$174 Million Renovation for Newark Retail

After sitting vacant for nearly 30 years, a historic department store in Newark, N.J., is undergoing $174 million worth of renovations that will restore it to commercial use, housing a Whole Foods Market (Austin, Texas), Barnes & Noble (New York) as well as a restaurant by celebrity chef Marcus Samuelsson. The Whole Foods is expected to open in March and will occupy 30,000 square feet of the space. The mixed-use development will also house apartments and an arts and cultural center.

The 400,000-square-foot building was built in 1901 as the Hahne & Co. department store. The redevelopment seeks to maintain the building’s original architecture and art deco-styled details. The store includes a four-story atrium (where contractors found a tree growing when they first began renovation work), a glass skylight and a grand, sweeping staircase with wrought-iron banisters, reports Chain Store Age.