Newark project will bring new theater, restaurant and offices to area near White Clay Creek

A theater, restaurant and offices will be built in Newark off Paper Mill Road backing up to White Clay Creek and near the city’s reservoir.

The development, approved by Newark City Council Monday night, will add to a recent string of projects that have built up the northern outskirts of downtown Newark. It’s the latest project brought forward by Lang Development Group, one of Newark’s most active development firms.

The new buildings will be constructed along Creek View Road, which runs parallel to the creek off Paper Mill Road and north of Cleveland Avenue. The property is currently home to Timothy’s Restaurant and three office buildings.

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Lang will build a new theater for the Chapel Street Players, a community theater group. They have been searching for a new site with better parking and away from student parties. In exchange, the Chapel Street Players will give Lang their current theater at 25 N. Chapel St.

On Creek View Road, Lang also plans to build a restaurant with an outside deck overlooking the creek for a future tenant and a three-story office building. The largest building at the site, a five-story, 106,000-square-foot office building, will be converted to apartments.

In place of the theater on North Chapel Street, Lang plans to build a four-story apartment building with ground-floor parking and 21 two-bedroom units. That project will be considered by City Council at a later date as a separate plan. 

Up a hill from the Creek View site, Lang also controls the recently constructed Mill Townhomes and The Lofts at the Mill, the brown brick buildings that back up to Paper Mill Road. Across the street, the city in December opened a 12-foot-wide pedestrian and bicycle bridge over White Clay Creek connecting the downtown area to Curtis Mill Park.