What is the Greek Village?
The establishment of a Greek Village @ NJIT is part of a plan for the redevelopment of the area north of the NJIT campus along Martin Luther King, generally from Central to Orange Aves., into a mixed use residential and retail area for the benefit and enjoyment of the NJIT community, community residents and visitors. The Greek Village itself is envisioned as a cluster of private town houses on the south edge of campus to accommodate many of the Greek organizations, now residing along Martin Luther King, in modern, attractive living quarters to provide opportunity for the Greek community to grow and strengthen at NJIT. You can learn about it at http://gateway.njit.edu/.

What is the process of developing a plan for the redevelopment and Greek Village?
NJIT, following discussions with representatives and members of the Greek community, local residents and property owners, representatives from St. Michaels’ Hospital, and representatives from the City of Newark, engaged Jones Lang LaSalle, a world wide, full services real estate management and development company, to work with the groups mentioned to develop a plan for approval by the City. Once the conceptual, master plan is developed and approved by the City, work on possible financial arrangements, project phasing, etc. begins. It is at this point that plans emerge focusing on architectural design, financing, and property ownership and specific use.

Will Greek life change at NJIT as a result of the redevelopment and the establishment of the Greek Village?
The fundamental nature of Greek life will not change. The goal remains for Greek organizations that choose to relocate to retain their independence and to maintain the relationship to NJIT that they currently enjoy. Through improved housing, provisions of social and recreational space in the Greek Village, and an enhanced, vibrant neighborhood north of NJIT comprised of residential housing, restaurants, and shops, as one would normally envision next to a college campus, the environment for the entire NJIT community, including the Greeks, whose population has declined over the past few years, will be enhanced substantially. It is significantly important to grow and strengthen our neighborhood for the entire NJIT community including our historically important Greek organizations.

How can my Greek organization have input into the development of theredevelopment plan and the Greek Village?
The organizational structure for development of the overall Gateway plan can be seen at http://gateway.njit.edu/index.php. The Greek community Stakeholders’ Group members included in this organizational structure are: Jim Krucher, Pi Kappa Phi Alumnus, Rocky Hazelman, Tau Epsilon Phi Alumnus, Mario Guglielmo, Tau Kappa Epsilon Active, and Humby Baquerizo, NJIT Assistant Director of Greek Life. The Stakeholders’ Group, which consists of 15 members, an NJIT Board of Trustees Liaison, and an NJIT Alumnus Consultant, advises the developers and provides a two way conduit for input and information dissemination.

While much input to date has been received from meetings with Greek organizations, community organizations, St. Michaels’, the NJIT community, The City, the Newark Housing Authority, and interested parties in the general area of the proposed redevelopment and through a broad based survey, solicitation of input is ongoing.

With respect to the design of the Greek Village, the developers have either met with, are scheduled to meet with, or will schedule a meeting with each Greek organization. Because the circumstances of each Greek organization, including current housing arrangements, is somewhat unique, it is important for the developer to understand each individual organization’s needs. It is from this input that the developer is able to construct the details of an overall plan in an effort to meet major needs of the Greek community as a whole. Once the conceptual master plan currently under consideration is finalized for presentation to and approval by the City, and the developers have completed the input phase from each Greek organization, “Town Hall” type meetings will be held to develop consensus on details of a final plan of implementation. The goal is to come up with a plan for Greeks that will meet as many needs as possible and provide for the growth and development of the Greek community at NJIT.

It has been said within the Greek community that “NJIT currently says that they will not use eminent domain for this project, but they did threaten that someone will come along and use it.” Is this true?
No, it is not true. Although NJIT retains rights of eminent domain per State statute, NJIT will not exercise eminent domain in the project. By NJIT taking the lead and working with the City on approval of a plan and designation of NJIT as the redeveloper, this provides protection against another redeveloper being named who could request that eminent domain be part and parcel of the plan. So, in fact, rather than “threaten that someone will come along and use it (eminent domain)” NJIT is protecting against eminent domain being used insofar as it is able to do so. What is true is that NJIT cannot guarantee that some other entity will not attempt to use eminent domain within the project area, but the redevelopment structure of what is proposed provides maximum protection against that happening.

Has NJIT made any attempts to or have any plans to purchase property along MLK north of Central Ave?
No, NJIT has not made any attempts to purchase property along MLK north of Central Ave. and has no plans to do so. The Gateway plan is about strengthening the Greek community and enhancing the neighborhood/community environment; it is not about NJIT’s property holdings expanding north of Central Ave.