One Gateway Center in Newark — Courtesy: Onyx Equities
By Joshua Burd
Onyx Equities LLC will take over management, leasing and construction oversight of One Gateway Center in Newark, with plans to reposition the well-known office tower along McCarter Highway.
The firm said it has agreed to terms with owners Axonic Capital LLC and Taconic Capital Advisors to assume the roles for the nearly 523,000-square-foot property. Onyx is currently crafting a plan to reposition the building and renovate the interior concourse leading to Newark Penn Station, as well as the exterior facing the transit hub.
The Woodbridge-based developer and investor cited Newark’s increased prominence in the northern New Jersey office and residential market as the reason for its interest.
“As the renaissance of Newark accelerates, Gateway Center will prove to be the single most important urban office complex in the state of New Jersey,” said John Saraceno, managing principal and co-founder of Onyx Equities.
Officially, the firm will serve as asset and property manager and leasing and construction manager. In repositioning a roughly 700-foot stretch of the concourse, it is seeking to improve the tenant and visitor experience by drawing on inspiration and expertise from transit hub workplace projects, linear park concepts and its recent urban repositioning success at 30 Montgomery St. in Jersey City.
Onyx reintroduced 30 Montgomery, a 313,000-square-foot tower, in January 2016 after a complete overhaul that included the replacement of 1,800 windows, HVAC redesign, landing upgrades and an expansion of the retail space from 6,000 to more than 12,000 square feet. Today, the building houses popular fast casual dining establishments on the waterfront.
At One Gateway, Onyx plans to continue its strategy of modernizing well-located office buildings into Class A, fully amenitized workplaces. The news comes after the tower’s anchor tenant, law firm Gibbons PC, renewed its 112,000-square-foot lease.
The firm touted One Gateway’s immediate train access, on-site garage parking, a fitness operator, a range of restaurants and daily conveniences, along with an indoor connection to the Hilton’s Newark Penn Station Hotel and walkability to the Ironbound District.
