On the Issues

NewPark Mall was built in 1980 and was an important commercial center for the City at the time of its construction. However, over the past two and a half decades, many stores and restaurants have left the NewPark area, leaving the mall nearly vacant. The City has taken steps to revitalize the NewPark area, but the private landowners have not built the projects they claimed they will build. The City needs to be steadfast in holding to our community’s needs at NewPark – we can not rush into a project just to do something and miss opportunities to meet future needs. Newark is not big enough to provide giveaways and still be able to meet our community’s needs, now and in the future.

The City Council will need to preserve space for housing at NewPark Mall in order to meet increasing State Housing requirements under the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA). Over time, the State will increase its requirements for the housing the City of Newark will need to plan for, but we are not able to expand our boundaries. As much as current market conditions may make building mixed-use housing and retail spaces challenging, we cannot afford to not plan for housing at NewPark and expect to meet our housing requirements long-term.

At NewPark Mall, I want to see a project that resembles the 2021 proposal that the private property owner presented but did not build. This project had two key factors that I believe will be important going forward. First, there were significant housing opportunities at the site. That housing would have been rental units and could have provided Newark families with a housing option that we do not have enough of currently. The portion set aside for retail was also adaptable enough to meet changing market trends. When NewPark Mall was built, the model of anchor stores supporting smaller stores made sense, but it was never able to change with the decline of large retail stores and the rise of online shopping. Vacancies lead to more vacancies, and that leads to the situation we have now. Creating a better balances of uses should help us avoid that error and allow the NewPark area better adapt to whatever dining and retail trends will come decades in the future.

We also need to take note of the social and community aspect of ‘going to the mall,’ which was often about the experience rather than needing to buy something. A thriving NewPark neighborhood can recreate this experience by being a place where all Newark residents can find restaurants they enjoy, stores that have what they like, and public places to just hang out.

I believe that one point of failure for NewPark Mall was that it was never easy to get from Newark Memorial High School to the Mall without a car, which should not be needed given that the two locations are essentially adjacent. Improving these connections (a sidewalk at a minimum) should help bring customers to the Mall. The City’s community outreach should also include a focus on what would bring High Schoolers to a shopping center.

The City should also help the new NewPark development feel like a part of the greater Newark by ensuring that the neighborhood is easily accessible by every mode of transportation. One way to do that is to make the ‘front door’ of the mall closer to the local street level rather than behind a sea of parking lots. Improving pedestrian access in particular will help revitalize the NewPark area: a driver to the NewPark area should only have to park once and then be able to safely and easily walk everywhere they want to go within the neighborhood. It will be essential to avoid a street design similar to other shopping centers where it can feel necessary to drive to adjacent stores. This will mean working to make sidewalks within the neighborhood that are well maintained, lined with shady trees and benches, and accessible for all visitors. If we can make it easy and enjoyable to move around NewPark on foot, Newark residents and visitors will want to spend more time and money there, benefitting the whole neighborhood.

The NewPark development should also serve as an opportunity to revitalize Shirley Sisk Grove. As Newark grows and changes, it will be essential to find the best uses for all of our public spaces. We are shortchanging ourselves by ignoring a beautiful park in a location that we want to be a draw for both Newark residents and visitors. But if we take the initiative and see the bigger picture of what the NewPark neighborhood can be, Shirley Sisk Grove can be a draw in of itself throughout the year as a place where Newark residents gather and have fun.