The Yard at College Ave will be even better than you imagined

We’ve all walked by the construction site next to the Scott Hall bus stop and wondered, “when will this be done?”

Well, don’t fret. Steps to complete The Yard at College Ave have been taken.

Chris Paladino, president of New Brunswick Development Corporation, said seven out of nine businesses are in the process of signing leases for locations below the luxury on-campus apartments on the corner of College Avenue and Hamilton Street, across from Scott Hall.

Paladino confirmed the businesses would include:

RU Hungry – If you don’t know what RU Hungry is, along with all of its fat sandwich glory, you should be ashamed. Paladino revealed the inside of the store will be designed like a food truck to keep the concept alive as it moves to a set location.

Bella’s Burger Shack – A Basking Ridge, NJ, hidden treasure for burgers and all things fried.

Krispy Pizza – Another amazing pizza place to choose from (obviously) with three locations in NJ and two in NY.

honeygrow – An eatery focusing on “Honest Eating + Growing Local” food with an “organic fusion, Chipotle-style serving concept” with six locations in three different states.

Jersey Mike’s Subs – A sub/hoagie (to each his own) place with Jersey roots and thousands of locations nationwide.

House of Cupcakes – From Princeton, NJ, a sweet tooth’s dream featuring award-winning cupcakes and cookies for the Rutgers community.

Starbucks – It’s a coffee place. I don’t really know how else to explain it.

Paladino said Surf Taco might be the eighth business. The ninth business will be either Microsoft, Apple, a hair salon, nail salon, a convenience store, or something of that nature.

The Yard at College Ave is phase two of the $300 million College Avenue Redevelopment Initiative projected to be completed and occupied by students and businesses by August 2016. Phase one was the completion of the Honors College on Seminary Place. Next is the new Academic building next to the Honors College.

Let me break this down for you guys, because I know some of you may still be blinded by your anger over Rutgers kicking out the grease trucks.

Would you rather go to Lot 8 accompanied with parked cars, food trucks, and limited place to sit with the fat sandwich you contemplated for at least 10 minutes?

OR would you rather tell your friends to come meet you at The Yard and be faced with even more choices – between an array of junk, healthy, sweet, mostly local food and beverages, a place to sit and how long you want overstay your welcome?

Paladino said the main reasons for this project on the College Ave campus are one, allowing 500 more Rutgers students to live on the most desirable campus, and two, to find a sense of place for the students, alumni and faculty.

DEVCO provided pictures of what the Yard will look like.

All of you who are too drunk to make the football games can hopefully get it together to head over to The Yard before kickoff.

It will also include a jumbo-tron to watch Rutgers-based programming. This could include content made in classes by students, sports games, Yankee games and movie nights.

The Yard will also feature a wooden boardwalk with built-in furniture, much like the High Line in New York. In the winter, there are plans in place to make an ice skating rink.

As for the apartments themselves, Paladino said there will be 14 floors with views of all the campuses and a view of New York City from the sky lounge on the top floor.

It also includes swanky furniture and design, a common area on each floor, a laundry room and a gym. Each apartment has four singles for four people, two bathrooms, a living room and a kitchen. Each one will likely be available to juniors and seniors, but it will be up to Rutgers Housing.

So hope for a kick-ass lottery number, because you know these apartments are going to be the first to go.