February 2025
Posted: 2/26/2025 12:22:58 PM
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Providing access to the Newark International Airport Train Station via the city’s Dayton neighborhood could create “a nexus of redevelopment” for what could be a new downtown.
Darius Sollohub, professor of architecture and interim director of the New Jersey School of Architecture at NJIT’s Hillier College, is part of the Airport City Newark coalition leading the transit-oriented development initiative. He provided an overview of the concept to NJTPA’s joint meeting of the Project Prioritization and Planning and Economic Development Committees on February 18.
The long-term vision of the multimodal station would feature multiple connections to the Dayton neighborhood in Newark’s South Ward, including access from Frelinghuysen Avenue. Construction is expected to begin on the first phase this month and the Port Authority Board has announced it would open the train station at Newark to the community, Sollohub said.
Frelinghuysen Avenue, from the Elizabeth border to beyond the Route 22/78 overpasses, could become a corridor with emerging transportation technologies and Complete Streets features extending to downtown Newark, according to Sollohub.
In September, the NJTPA Board approved an amendment to its Unified Planning Work Program that included an allocation of $100,000 to NJIT for ongoing coordination of planning and development surrounding the new station. The work will include collaborating with the Port Authority, NJ TRANSIT, the New Jersey Department of Transportation, and the City of Newark.
More than 15 years ago the Port Authority tasked the Regional Plan Association (RPA) with studying New York’s airports to determine how they can stay competitive globally. Facilities were under almost constant renovation but there also was a shortage of runways for New York as a region to remain competitive. The projection then was to add two runaways but while that’s no longer on the table, examining development of Newark Airport has continued.
In 2017, the Airport City Newark coalition was charged by Mayor Ras Baraka to examine Newark Airport in anticipation of extending the PATH from Newark Penn Station. Now, Airport City is fully integrated into the city’s master plan, Sollohub said.
Newark is in the process of undertaking designation for redevelopment of 37 acres near the Northeast Corridor line to the Elizabeth border. That’s largely because of groundbreaking by Lionsgate for a movie studio to open next year, Sollohub said. “There’s opportunity here for additional economic development and workforce development, pairing those things together as we move forward,” he added.
The coalition is working with local groups and organizations to support redevelopment planning from the community and be assured they have a voice in that.
The presentation can be accessed here and more information on Airport City Newark can be found at InTransition magazine.
Posted: 2/21/2025 1:52:57 PM
Counties and municipalities often try to prepare for the impacts of industrial development as well as mitigate these impacts once the development is in place.
Ryan Conklin, Assistant Planning Director, Warren County, presented on actions Warren County has taken to manage warehouse development and associated truck traffic during the NJTPA’s Freight Initiatives Committee meeting on February 18.
The County’s mostly rural roads are not conducive to significant tractor-trailer traffic. Yet it’s a gateway for trucks coming through Pennsylvania and eastern New Jersey toward New York via Interstate Routes 78 and 80. An analysis in 2021 identified areas along major roads like Routes 517 and 519 where there were hot spots for crashes, Conklin said, adding that about 10 percent of overall crashes were heavy vehicle related.
The County completed a comprehensive master plan that looked at freight movement, and has a Complete Streets study underway as part of the NJTPA’s Subregional Studies Program.
Warren’s municipalities have met to provide direct input along with other stakeholders, Conklin said. As a result, the County has requested restrictions to all 500 and 600 series roads in the County, conducted safety audits of Route 519 between Route 57 and 22, and examined traffic calming for Route 519 in Hope, which has been a focal point of cut-through traffic from Interstates 78 and 80. It also started to work on Local Safety Action Plans and County Complete Streets Plan, taking into consideration freight issues associated with these types of developments, Conklin said.
The County’s transportation master plan element examined data collected from previous planning initiatives to help create a truck routing map for the County with a goal of shifting truck traffic to higher level roads and interstate highways in the most efficient manner possible, Conklin said. They also work to come up with wayfinding signage and routing through agreements with developers, which is a useful tool for municipalities to use.
A recording of the meeting is available here.
Posted: 2/21/2025 1:38:28 PM
Warehouse construction in New Jersey has cooled off over the past year but given the Garden State’s location there’s still strong demand in parts of the region for industrial space.
Bill Waxman, Vice Chair, Cushman & Wakefield, presented the annual Industrial Real Estate Update during the NJTPA’s Freight Initiatives Committee meeting on February 18.
The first half of 2024 was not very good for the industrial real estate market but ended on a positive note with a strong second half, providing encouragement for 2025 and 2026, Waxman said. The vacancy rate was up in 2024 reflecting a softening in demand for older, less efficient buildings. Meanwhile, asking prices rose, buoyed by new construction and demand for more efficient buildings, he said. “What we’re seeing is a flight to quality” Waxman said. If a company was in three older buildings in Elizabeth, Newark, or Kearny, they consolidated into a more modern, efficient building potentially further from the port, in Middlesex or Passaic County.
One reason for the moves is the lack of available truck parking. “When you see trucks and trailers dropped on the street, that’s because of a lack of adequate truck and trailer parking,” he said.
With a lot of new buildings coming onto the market at once landlords gave away free rent, Waxman said. The average free rent period has doubled, from about 2 months in 2022 to 4.5 months in 2024. One month of free rent for every year of a lease is not unusual, he added.
The sweet spot for space now is smaller buildings -- anything less than 50,000 square feet – where vacancy rates are much lower than bigger buildings. Landlords have divided buildings of 500,000 to 600,000 square feet buildings into smaller units. “That’s been helpful in absorbing some of the space.” Waxman said.
Owners are more reluctant to build to attract tenants. “It’s becoming harder and more expensive to build warehousing in New Jersey,” Waxman said. He predicts fewer new buildings and construction by 2026 creating upward pressure on pricing.
Still, he’s optimistic because New Jersey remains “a very good location” for warehousing and industrial uses like pharmaceuticals, light assembly, data centers, and more. “We have a healthy mix of tenants,” Waxman said.
A recording of the meeting is available here.
Posted: 2/12/2025 11:13:20 AM
A new interactive online tool provides a bird’s eye view of routes that are optimal for expanded walking and biking and can be integrated with the existing active transportation network around Northern New Jersey.
Keith Hamas, Principal Planner, Safety Planning, at the NJTPA presented an overview of the Active Transportation Plan Data Viewer to the Regional Transportation Advisory Committee during its February 10 meeting.
The interactive online tool builds on the NJTPA’s Active Transportation Plan completed in 2023. The plan establishes a common framework for counties, municipalities, and the state to create active transportation routes, Hamas said.
The online network is one piece of the plan and should be viewed alongside the strategy guide, case studies, and final plan document which offer best practices for implementation, Hamas said. The online tool is not a bike map but rather “aspirational” for options to expand walking and biking networks.
While the tool identifies potential routes, all require further study. The tool displays a half-mile buffer along routes to encompass potentially suitable alternatives.
The plan uses data layers for trip potential analysis, a heat map that displays where people are likely to walk and bike based on demographics, intersection density, land use mix, and other analyses that inform regional connectivity.
Other layers in the online tool feature transit facilities, highway interchanges, greenways, and scenic byways. For each layer, users can toggle on or off and adjust the layer order, optimizing what they’re looking for.
Local implementers might want to look at related NJTPA programs where this data might be applicable, Hamas said, such as Complete Streets Technical Assistance, demonstration projects, trails programs, and Local Safety Action Programs.
The Active Transportation Plan Data Viewer can be accessed here.