New Jersey Bell Headquarters Building

AT&T operated a number of subsidiary telephone companies in the early twentieth century, including Delaware Atlantic Telephone & Telegraph. Delaware Atlantic was reorganized in 1927 as New Jersey Bell and acquired the New Jersey properties of New York Bell. To consolidate the three Newark locations, the company bought a parcel to build a headquarters. The head of New Jersey Bell Telephone, Chester Barnard, spoke at the grand opening of the new office building on April 4th 1929, calling the structure a "thing of beauty...built not only for today, but to meet the requirements of the expanding future." The building was designed by architect Ralph Thomas Walker of the New York firm Voorhees, Gmelin and Walker. The New York Times later dubbed Walker the "architect of the century." Walker was a master of the setback-style of architectural design, where the massing of the lower floors was wider than the upper floors; this technique complied with New York City's sunlight law of 1916 and he used it in the design of a half-dozen skyscrapers in Manhattan and Rochester, New York, as well as this Newark building.

The steel frame building with concrete footings rises 275 feet above the curbline. The main facade faces Broad St. and is seven bays wide on the ground floor, with the end bays slightly recessed. A decorative floral frieze tops the first story, covered in Glenmont sandstone. The main entrance in the central bay leads to the grand lobby, with 22-foot high ceilings, walls of pink marble with burgundy marble accents, and gray and rose tile floors with bronze accents. The upper floors of the Broad Street side are divided into twelve bays. The elaborate pilasters in the central core are fluted on floors two to four, with massive sandstone relief figures by Edward McCartan representing a telephone lineman, residential customers, an operator, and a repairman. Bronze panels with floral designs are between the pilasters. The nine-bay south elevation faces Lombardy Street; it is less decorative than the main facade but both feature cast stone ornamentation at the parapet level.

Several works of art have been preserved on the interior, including a terrazo tile wall mural by Alfred E. Floegel of a naked man holding a telephone handset while cables circle around a globe beneath him. "Telephone Spirit" symbolizes mankind's control of worldwide communication. The basement contained a boiler room and a cafeteria for workers. The first floor held the public offices, a 400-seat auditorium, and telephone displays. Upper floors held non-public offices, a medical floor, and large classrooms. The uppermost floors were executive offices. The building remained under telephone company ownership, which later became Bell Atlantic and then Verizon; up to 3,000 employees worked within the building.

Verizon had plans to sell the 440,000 square-foot building overlooking Washington Park for $35 million in 2008; the company decided to stay after receiving millions in tax breaks from the state. L&M Development Partners, a New York City firm, bought the building in 2016 in a partnership with Prudential Financial for over $16 million. The partners, along with Gold man Sachs Urban Investment group, poured $120 million into the renovations. L&M also bought the nearby former Hahne & Company department store building (also a Clio entry), which was redeveloped into residences and commercial spaces including a Whole Foods store.

Former Newark Mayor Cory Booker's presidential campaign headquarters opened in this newly-renovated building in 2019.The renovations of the New Jersey Bell Building into Walker House won awards in 2019 from Downtown New Jersey (Excellence in Community Development) and New Jersey Future (Smart Growth). Rental apartments in the renovated Walker House have been very popular and range from studios to three bedrooms. The 211 luxury apartments were over 90 percent leased by August 2020. The top floor holds resident amenities: a fitness center, yoga studio, library lounge, private catering kitchen, and rooftop terrace with outdoor seating. Rents start at about $1,900 per month with one month free on a thirteen-month lease; these are the reduced-rate leases, reserved for those who make roughly half the area's average income; the other 80 percent of the units lease at higher prices.

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Panico, Rebecca. Historic Bell Telephone Building in NEwark Includes Affordable Housing, Tech Classrooms and Offices, TAP into Newark. June 11th 2019. Accessed January 28th 2021. https://www.tapinto.net/towns/newark/articles/historic-bell-telephone-building-in-newark-includes-affordable-housing-tech-classrooms-and-offices.

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