Onyx Equities has launched a competition to fill the last remaining restaurant space at its remade Gateway Center in Newark.
The developer hosted a grand opening this week to welcome eight new restaurants to The Junction, Gateway’s 100,000 s/f retail and hospitality destination.
Serafina, Brooklyn Dumpling Shop, Fresh & Co, Greek from Greece Bakery & Café, Farinella, 375˚ Chicken & Fries, Chip City Cookies and The Brookdale will cater to tenants and guests at the 2.3 million s/f, four-building Gateway Center complex that draws over 75,000 weekly visitors from the New York Metro area through its skybridges to Newark Penn Station, One Riverfront Center, and Panasonic’s Corporate Headquarters.
Its second-floor interconnected concourses, now known as The Junction, is near the completion of a multimillion-dollar renovation to attract retail, fitness, entertainment and dining opportunities as well as improve the pedestrian and tenant experience within the complex. Onyx’s investment in Newark also includes opening the Gateway Center’s ground floor via a new pedestrian grand entrance and street-facing retail for the first time in the building’s 50+-year history.
Onyx announced it would create a platform to connect Newark’s talent pool with the restauranteurs through a job fair and invited City agencies to be involved. The job fair is expected to take place in early 2022, to coincide with completion of construction of The Junction’s extensive renovations and the opening of the new restaurants.
The competition will invite Newark-based restaurant operators to compete for the for the final available restaurant space at The Junction which Onyx will build out and at no up-front cost to the operator.
“We want to be a connection point for the millions of people who come through Gateway Center and the retailers and restauranteurs that want to be in Newark as well as those that have been here for generations,” said Jon Schultz, Co-Founder and Principal at Onyx Equities. “
Stretching from Mulberry Street to Raymond Plaza West, Gateway Center has been re-imagined by Onyx Equities and its partners to elevate the complex’s central positioning as Newark’s primary access point for commuters, travelers, Prudential Center visitors, and local residents. In total, the center is comprised of 2.3 million s/f of Class A office space, 100,000 s/f of retail and more than 1,000 on-site parking spaces and will feature a two-story steel, aluminum and glass Jewel Box entryway into The Junction.
Onyx Equites also recently invested $200,000 into installing post-COVID-19 office repopulation measures and completed several construction projects during the pandemic, including the multimillion-dollar renovation of the Gateway One Garage.
The development also plays a major day-to-day role in the immediate area where there is a growing population of 300,000, a daytime workforce population of 200,000 and 58,000 riders who board at Newark Penn Station daily. In addition, more than 60,000 vehicles pass The Junction at Gateway Center along McCarter Highway each day. Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils and Seton Hall Pirates Basketball, is directly across the street and four major universities with over 50,000 students are nearby.
The entire Gateway Center complex has undergone sweeping capital improvements and service enhancements since being acquired by Onyx Equities and its partners in 2018. These include renovated lobbies, improved collaborative spaces, a unique concourse walkway, modern buildouts and exterior plaza improvements, including pedestrian walkways. Service additions include a custom-designed complex-wide dining menu/catering app, which is currently in the development phase, for the exclusive use of Gateway Center office tenants and visitors. Once finalized, the app will allow users to place orders from multiple dining establishments at one time and have it delivered at a pre-determined time and date.
Pierson Commercial is the leasing team for The Junction.
Restaurants interested in the competition can download the competition guidelines and entry form at www.gatewaynj.com/contest.
