Why Did Work Stop on Halo High Rise in Downtown Newark? What We Know

NEWARK — Amid claims of both funding and safety issues, construction has stopped on a gleaming residential high rise in downtown Newark – a project that has been among the most visible signs of the city’s development boom.

The owner of the Halo on Washington Street sued its lender last week with claims Parkview Financial did not make good on a $90 million loan . And court records show the builder of a neighboring Essex County family courts building has also sued the Halo’s owner and general contractor with claims the construction endangered their workers with “safety issues” ranging from flying concrete that injured one person to a circular saw blade flung onto the county project site.

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In a January lawsuit, Dobco Inc., which was contracted for the county’s family courts building, cited five occasions, between July 18, 2023 – Jan. 5, 2024, in which “severe safety issues arose at the Halo Towers Project that compromised the welfare and safety of the workers,” at the county project.

Hudson Meridian Construction Group and Acier Holdings LLC did not respond to TAPinto Newark’s requests for comment. However, in a response filed with the court, attorneys for the companies deny many of Dobco’s claims, including the allegations of flying concrete and an airborne circular saw.

The work stoppage was raised at a City Council meeting last week and earlier reported by Jersey Digs, which also said there had been union protests at the location.

North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos Jr. said the construction appeared to have ceased months ago.

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“Is the developer having financial issues? What happened with all the tax credits … abatements from the city?” Ramos said on June 25. “We definitely need some answers.”

Council President LaMonica McIver requested a written response from the city’s Department of Economic and Housing Development and confirmed that there is a funding issue.

“They have run out of money,” said McIver, who represents the Central Ward in which the project is located. “However, they did secure a new investor for the project.”

TAPinto Newark’s requests to McIver and the city’s press office seeking to know who the new funder is were not answered as of Wednesday evening.

The City Council in July 2023 approved a 30-year-long tax abatement for the project, which is to include a set-aside of affordable housing units.

In a lawsuit filed last week, the project owner, 289-301 Washington LLC, claimed that Parkview Financial REIT LP, which agreed to loan $90 million for the project, failed to disburse monies from that loan.

“It is apparent that Lender has simply run out of capital to fund the loan,” the Acier Holdings entity says in its suit. “This became evident in early 2023 when, with construction nearing completion, Lender stopped funding Borrower’s loan disbursements all together.”

Acier Holdings claims Parkview Financial did not pay four disbursements of over $10 million — something that “continues to cause significant delays in the project’s construction.”

In a 2022 news release, Parkview Financial had described the project’s first phase as one to include 297-units on 38 stories over a five-level parking structure, topping out at 43 stories.

“Without funding, borrower is simply unable to pay its construction venders and complete construction, depriving borrower of its bargained-for loan proceeds and depriving the people of Newark of desperately needed housing, including affordable housing.”

Neither an emailed request for comment, nor a phone message left for Parkview Financial were returned. Construction on the Essex County Wynona Lipman Family Courts Building continues as seen and heard from the street earlier this week.

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