Senator Cory Booker Speaks Highly of Teachers Village
June 7, 2017
Assessing Cory Booker’s real estate deeds
The U.S. senator’s past as a pro-development mayor pays dividends today
View Full ArticleIt’s been nearly four years since Booker won a special election to become a U.S. senator after serving as mayor of Newark for seven years, between 2006 and 2013. Many in the local industry said the senator’s dogged efforts to spur real estate development in his hometown began to blossom after he left, but that those early endeavors have been instrumental in keeping Newark’s revival in drive.
“We were in the trenches with [Booker] and his staff almost on a daily basis to get our project, Teachers Village, off the ground,” said Ron Beit, CEO of Newark developer RBH Group and, according to Booker, the “James Brown of development.” Beit said Booker and his team “were phenomenal. They shepherded the project not only through City Hall but also assisted on the financial side and got into the nitty-gritty aspects.”
There’s approximately $2 billion in development underway or planned in Newark, with 5,500 units of housing and more upscale stores coming in. One of the reasons for this resurgence was Booker and his team’s laser focus on making Newark’s downtown renewal a reality, Beit and others said.