Relevant Project Features:

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Dresdner Robin was responsible for the creation, and later the amendment/modification, of the Midtown Elizabeth Redevelopment Plan. The Midtown Elizabeth Redevelopment Area is located immediately adjacent to the Central Business District of the City of Elizabeth and includes the Broad Street / New Jersey Transit Rail Station.

The Redevelopment Plan envisions a mixture of higher density residential land uses, ancillary service commercial and retail uses, offices, shared parking facilities and open space. The redevelopment plan is rooted in the principals of smart growth and transit oriented development, including; providing pedestrian friendly streets and public rights-of-way, minimizing automobile use by maximizing the appeal of mass transit and encouraging reduced parking and shared use parking solutions.

The Circulation Plan within the Redevelopment Plan is intended to provide a street layout for the Redevelopment Area that is adequate to meet the circulation needs of the Redevelopment Area in terms of vehicular traffic, while at the same time providing widened sidewalks and pedestrian ways to accommodate anticipated pedestrian volumes. An Open Space Plan is also included within the Redevelopment Plan consisting of a series of small parks and walkways along the Elizabeth River, a more formal central pedestrian plaza near the train station, smaller plazas and open space areas. These open spaces will be linked together, and to the greater Midtown area, with linear open space areas and the improved and widened pedestrian sidewalks containing street trees, pedestrian scale lighting and other amenities. This pedestrian circulation and open space system will provide access to and between the various commercial, residential, governmental, educational, recreational, open space and transportation uses and facilities.

The Redevelopment Plan is a truly mixed use plan which includes a new educational facility for Union County College, a shared use parking garage (already constructed) which services students and faculty of the college, shoppers and business people in the Central Business District, commuters on New Jersey Transit Rail Lines, jurors and others using the Union County Courts and Administration Building. The Redevelopment Plan has also resulted in the rehabilitation and reuse of the Historic Central Railroad of New Jersey Station as a restaurant and the development of a formal pedestrian plaza adjacent to the Broad Street Railroad Station. This new pedestrian plaza functions as an essential “Town Square” for this portion of the City of Elizabeth. Various public events are conducted within the plaza, such as concerts, shows and holiday events; all of which add to the appeal and vitality of the area and which enhance the pedestrian environment and experience for commuters and other visitors to the area.