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12 FEBRUARY 2025
Slated d t to open n i in n 20 2026 26, , a a ne new entertainment buil i di ding a at t Th The e Pa Park rk
in Berkeley y He eig ight hts s wi will ll b bri ring ng a b bre r wery, mu mult ltip iple le r res esta taur uran ants ts a and nd
bo bowl wlin ing g la lane nes s to to T The he C Con onne nell ll C Co.’s s fl agship campus.
Rendering by Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners/Courtesy: Connell
GOING PUBLIC
New phases taking shape at The Park as Connell’s plan for
resort-style, community-facing campus advances in Berkeley Heights
L unch at The Park in Berkeley
Heights isn’t what it used to be,
especially at the offi ce building
known as RT 300. That’s where The
Connell Co. recently unveiled a series
of modern, inviting dining and social
spaces for tenants, from an expansive
food hall to a cocktail lounge and
game room — all with custom
furniture, bright millwork and other
upscale touches.
Like many other parts of the
sprawling campus, they’re also
available for the public to rent.
“These are now all event spaces,”
Shane Connell, executive vice
president of The Connell Co., said
during a recent tour of the space.
“We now have an event calendar
and brochure that shows that you
can rent this socially for evening
activations or corporate events —
so the design had to be nice enough
that it felt not like a cafeteria,
but a fi ne dining institution that’s
rentable.”
It’s an early glimpse of Connell’s
plan to open The Park to the public
— from wine tastings and cooking
classes to 50th birthday parties
like the kind it hosted last fall — as
part of a decade-long, $500 million
update of the campus. That plan
will grow exponentially next year,
By Joshua Burd
with construction now underway on
a 60,000-square-foot entertainment
building that will house a brewery,
several restaurants and bowling
lanes, creating a new destination for
both nearby residents and workers
from the property’s 1.5 million
square feet of offi ce space.
Connell has also broken ground on
the fi rst of two luxury apartment
buildings that are slated for the 185-
acre property, which is just south
of Interstate 78 and 22 miles from
Manhattan, with additional plans
for ground-up retail space along the
new pedestrian corridor.
“The goal is a 20-minute
neighborhood — everything you
need is within 20 minutes,” said
Connell, whose family built the
campus starting in the early 1980s.
Today, its fi ve offi ce buildings
are home to the likes of Fiserv,
HP, Samsung and dozens of other
companies with a combined 9,000
employees, who occupy the site
alongside a 176-room Embassy
Suites hotel, Life Time Fitness and
acres of outdoor space.
Connell’s plan is ambitious,
complex and painstakingly
integrated — all with a level of
branding and merchandising that is
unlike anything at other commercial