Mulberry Commons

Phase 2 of the park broke ground in 2023 as the Mulberry Commons Pedestrian Bridge, a footbridge of 0.5 miles (0.80 km) over McCarter Highway and the Northeast Corridor with direct access to the train platforms at Newark Penn Station.

[17] The site was earlier the rail yard of the western terminus of the Central Railroad of New Jersey's Newark and New York Branch until service was discontinued and was used as a parking lot operated by Edison Park Fast operations, which owns numerous lots in the city.

[22][2] [20] The city acquired the land for the arena and park under the auspices of the Newark Downtown Core Redevelopment Corporation (NDCRC) for about $9.4 million in a series of complex purchase and transfer transactions with landowners Jose Lopez (a prominent local restaurateur) and Edison Properties, among others.

It promoted the adaption of the former CNJ bridge[31] to pedestrian walkway footbridge over McCarter Highway, the Northeast Corridor rail tracks south of Penn Station, and NJ Railroad Avenue to the city's Ironbound neighborhood, with a projected timeline of 2007 and an estimated cost between $40-$60 million.

According to Mayor Ras J. Baraka, the development of a 125,000-square-foot passive park would cost the city about $200,000 to $300,000 a year to maintain.

[16] Edison Properties as well as other stakeholders including the Prudential Center, the New Jersey Devils, and J&L Parking Corporation, have contributed funds and will oversee the development of the remaining acreage for commercial and residential uses.

M&M Mars-Wrigley signed a lease in 2017 for several floors in the building for office space, with employees be relocated here from their Chicago headquarters.