Twenty-seven years later, the four-time …

Twenty-seven years later, the four-time NBA champion with the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony, alongside Mayor Ras Baraka, at an $80 million, 22-story building at 50 Rector Park in the Newark Downtown District. The development, known around town as “Shaq Tower,” is the first high-rise apartment building to join the city’s skyline in more than 50 years. The project came about as a public-private partnership between Shaq, the city, the state of New Jersey, New Brunswick-based Boraie Development and the Goldman Sachs Urban Investment Group. The new tower was also boosted by a $24 million New Jersey Department of Economic Development Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit. The building’s one million square feet of space includes ground-floor retail space and 169 residential units—with monthly rents ranging from $1,800 to $2,895—as well as a gym, co-working lounge, private dining room, sky deck and Amazon lockers.