QUEST

THE DESIGN ISSUE

 

March 2008

 

NEWPORT, N.J.

 

Twenty-five years ago, Samuel LeFrak was knee-deep in the development of Gateway Plaza, the first residential tower in Battery Park City, when he looked across the river and realized the waterfront with the most potential was right in front of him – in New Jersey. The site of the former Pavonia trading colony (Henry Hudson had docked here upon discovering “his” river) had, by the 1980s, deteriorated into an industrial wasteland. Lefrak just needed to build a city from nothing.

 

All it took was 20-some years and about $10 billion. Today, Newport is a 600-acre, master-planned, mixed-use community in Jersey City with a dense collection of luxury apartments, Class-A office buildings, and high-end shopping unique to the metropolitan area.

 

LeFrak passed away in 2003, as his vision for Newport was taking it current shape. His son, Richard, says it’s impossible to pinpoint which aspects would make him most proud, from the office towers, 4,000 apartments, and massive Newport Centre Mall, down to the infrastructure—even the sewers—that didn’t exist before the project began. The LeFrak Organization allocated $25 million to recreate the Pavonia/Newport PATH station. There is even an ice rink. “That’s really unusual for a development to create an ice rink—for the public, not just for residents,” Richard says. The waterfront, with a marina and yacht club, and views of Manhattan, make it a naturally desirable location.

 

“It was our vision to develop that waterfront, which sparked the renaissance of the entire area, from Bayonne to Weehawken, and others began following,” Richard says. In the process, they even improved the quality of life for residents of Gateway Plaza: Newport’s colorful skyline is now part of their own view.