New Brunswick Mayor Cahill Recognized for City's Ongoing Redevelopment

Mayor Jim Cahill has been recognized for helping to orchestrate more than $5 billion in redevelopment in his 31 years in office.

Cahill has been named to the ROI-NJ Influencers “Power List” for 2023 as massive development projects such as the New Jersey Health + Life Sciences Exchange (HELIX), the Blanquita B. Valenti Community School and the Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, representing more than $1.5 billion in development, are in various stages of completion.

The business publication noted that Cahill has “been a model mayor on development – not just in the state, but in the country.”

Cahill said the city has been fortunate to “work with so many talented and dedicated people,” including the New Brunswick Development Corp. (DEVCO).

“There are visionaries who understand what it takes to make a community great and how to realize victories as a team,” the mayor said, noting a 30-year public/private partnership with DEVCO President Chris Paladino. “It is a community team working together with the power of a collective vision for New Brunswick.”

Cahill’s redevelopment accomplishments include:

• 6,000 new, quality homes for all income levels;

• 8,000 new jobs, with just a 2.9% unemployment rate for the city;

• Five new schools, with expanded and improved services for all city residents;

• $24 million every year in property tax relief through redevelopment, helping to operate the city’s government and schools;

• Three years of reduced or stabilized municipal property taxes, resulting in New Brunswick claiming the lowest municipal tax rate in Middlesex County.

Beyond the medical and educational projects, New Brunswick has more than 3,500 new housing units for all income levels in the pipeline. That includes the 720-unit redevelopment at the former Sears site, a $206 million investment on Route 1 that will generate an additional $1.1 million in revenue for the city each year.

There’s also the 300-unit Boraie Tower, and up to 400 units at Phase 3 of The HELIX, each with set asides for low- and moderate-income families and individuals.

Along with many smaller developments that are currently under construction, approved, or in the planning phase, 2023 will also bring 100% affordable housing developments at Sterlingside and Hildebrand Commons.

Redevelopment work in New Brunswick:

The HELIX, a $665 million downtown investment in the areas of innovation, translational research, and medical education, is being constructed. The three-phase project includes more than 4 million square feet of new, job-creating development, including unique space for technology and innovation ventures together with corporate office space, academic, medical, and corporate research facilities, ground-floor retail, and exciting residential options that will establish New Brunswick as a major center of innovation in health care, life sciences, and technology.

The Jack and Sheryl Morris Cancer Center, a $750 million, 12-story, 519,000-square-foot cancer care and research center are already climbing high above Somerset Street across from Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. It will be the only free-standing National Cancer Institute, designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in New Jersey, providing complete and comprehensive cancer care and treatment in a single location.

A sprawling, $170 million plan to redevelop a large swath of Jersey Avenue. This project will ultimately bring 660 housing units and a mix of retail and office space.

Construction of the Valenti Community School, a $55 million development on Jersey Avenue, is set to welcome up to 1,100 students this fall.

The 228,000-square-foot RWJUH Ambulatory Medical Pavilion on Somerset Street.

“As we continue to move New Brunswick forward into the 21st century, we will continue to focus our redevelopment not only on today but on the generations to come,” Cahill said.

ROI-NJ editors say they select “influencers” for the annual lists through staff recommendations, as well as consulting with “dozens of insiders each year, getting a sense of whom they feel are influential players in their sector — and across the state.”

ROI adds: “To be clear, this isn’t a popularity contest. And it isn’t about working for the biggest companies or having the biggest titles.”

Learn more about New Brunswick’s ongoing redevelopment at cityofnewbrunswick.org or Devco.org

Story by: Chuck O'Donnell
Photo by: TAPinto New Brunswick