Tall & Urban News

New Brunswick-based Boraie Development and Newark native and former National Basketball Association superstar Shaquille O’Neal have set June 20, 2019 as the date for the opening of their $80 million rental project in downtown Newark. The joint venture behind the so-called Shaq Tower, also known as One Rector Street, plans to deliver 168 units and 20,000 square feet (1,860 square meters) of retail space. Studios in the building are starting at $1,800 a month, one-bedrooms at $1,950 and two-bedrooms at $2,700.

Multiple outlets reported that the project is the first market-rate high-rise in Newark in more than a half-century. The site of the Shaq Tower was once occupied by a brewery built around 1860. The property subsequently housed a succession of local colleges and the Science Park High School, the latter of which vacated the site in 2013 and was demolished two years ago.

New York-based general contractor Gilbane Building Company was tapped to serve as project manager for the Shaq Tower, and Boraie and O’Neal are also at work on another $150 million, 350-unit tower near the Ironside Newark development.

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