Hartz Plans Conference Center, Hotels for Newark Int'l
<B> Hartz Plans Conference Center, Hotels for Newark Int'l</B>
By Frank Rosci
Developers have announced plans to build a conference center and two hotels adjacent to Newark International Airport.
Hartz Mountain Industries, Secaucus, N.J., intends to construct the $150-million complex beginning in spring 1999, about one mile west of the airport, in the long-available and much-discussed Waverly rail yards, which have been at the core of a number of proposed real estate deals and developments over the past ten years.
The construction of a monorail by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey at the airport, which has progressed steadily during the last two years; the commitment to Newark's economic resurgence and rebirth by current city government; and thriving local, regional and national economies all helped lead Hartz Mountain to announce that it will begin the project.
"As developers our expectations are to build a 50,000-sq.-ft. conference center, a 550-room deluxe hotel and a 250-room limited service hotel on the site, which will be completed around December 2000 to coincide with the construction and opening of a new monorail that will serve the airport from the complex," said Walter M. Smith, vice president of operations for Hartz Mountain. A walkway will connect the hotels and conference center to the new monorail terminal, Smith added.
Brand names of the two hotels have not been announced, but the project will help satisfy the need for additional easily accessible hotel rooms and meeting/conference space at Newark International and in the greater New York area. Airport officials agreed, noting that the 3,700 hotel rooms located within two miles of the airport will be increased by 20 percent.
The burgeoning airport continues to add overseas and domestic flights, evidenced by the more than 30 million travelers who use the airport annually. It is the fastest growing airport in the New York area, said representatives of the Port Authority, and was named 16th in total passengers in the world in 1997, according to the Airports Council International.