Sweeney, Whelan hold discussion on public-private partnership efforts in Atlantic City
Senate President Steve Sweeney and state Sen. Jim Whelan held a roundtable discussion Thursday afternoon in Atlantic City on public-private partnership projects within the city and elsewhere across the state.
Thursday’s forum at the Sheraton hotel comes on the third and final day of the annual New Jersey State League of Municipalities Conference, which is being held across the street at the Atlantic City Convention Center.
The discussion began with an update from Christopher J. Paladino, president of the New Brunswick Development Corp., on his private nonprofit’s most recent work in Atlantic City, which includes the development of an “island campus” for Stockton University and a new headquarters for South Jersey Industries, which operates South Jersey Gas.
Part of the first phase of the so-called Gateway Redevelopment Initiative, the projects call for more than $121 million in investments to erect academic and residential buildings for the proposed Stockton campus. The academic building will be able to immediately accommodate around 1,000 students upon completion, with the ability to increase that capacity to around 1,800 students. The residential component, which will feature oceanfront dormitories with mixed-use retail and open spaces, will hold 125 units capable of accommodating around 500 student beds.