Newark Approves Kawaida Towers Affordable Housing

The 10-story Halsey Street project will add 33 affordable homes, a grocery store and rooftop amenities.

Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in African-American

Bold flat-color vector editorial illustration of a single ten-story residential block with repeating window bays and a rooftop garden on an empty urban lot. — Newark's Central Planning Board on Monday approved Kawaida Towers, a 10-story Halsey Street building with 33 affordable homes, a grocery store, and rooftop amenities. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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The Newark Central Planning Board approved plans for Kawaida Towers, a 10-story building at 17-21 Halsey Street, on Monday, Oct. 19. The project will contain 33 affordable homes along with a grocery store and rooftop amenities.

Why it matters

The approval moves forward a project first announced in 2021 and carries a name tied to a 1970s affordable housing proposal that fueled racial tensions in Newark. The city-owned site, previously occupied by a demolished three-story brick building, is being redeveloped for housing and retail uses.

The 55,700-square-foot development includes a 3,166-square-foot ground-floor grocery store, a 700-square-foot fitness center, a 1,480-square-foot tenant lounge and a 1,700-square-foot outdoor rooftop terrace. The ownership split is 80% Heritage Company and 20% Poiema Partners II, and the source does not address the project's timeline.

The players

Newark Central Planning Board

The municipal body that reviews and approves major development projects and zoning variances within the city of Newark.

Ras Baraka

The mayor of Newark, who announced the original 66-unit Kawaida Towers project on Halsey Street in 2021.

Amiri Baraka

The late poet and activist who led the Kawaida Temple, a Pan-African organization, and proposed the 1970s affordable housing complex that gave the project its name.

The details

The planning board granted several zoning variances involving building setbacks, shade trees and landscaping buffers. The city-owned property previously held a three-story brick building that has since been demolished to make way for the project.

1967: Riots in Newark left the city still recovering.
1970s: Amiri Baraka proposed a 16-story affordable housing complex with 210 apartments at 129 Lincoln Avenue.
2021: Mayor Ras Baraka announced a 66-unit Kawaida Towers project on Halsey Street.
Monday, Oct. 19: The Newark Central Planning Board approved the Kawaida Towers plans.

Roadmap

Kawaida Towers revives the name of Amiri Baraka's 1970s affordable housing proposal, which drew racial tensions in Newark. The approved 10-story building updates that earlier ambition into a smaller, mixed-use project on city-owned land.

Newark residents near Halsey Street will see a 10-story building with 33 affordable homes and a ground-floor grocery store once the project is built. The rooftop terrace and tenant amenities are planned for building occupants, and the grocery store could add a retail option on the block.

The takeaway

Projects that reuse a contested historical name can carry that history forward into new housing, so readers following Newark's development should watch how the affordable units and grocery store are delivered.