Business complex proposed
at Main, Summerhill corner
By vincent todaro
Staff Writer
SPOTSWOOD — A new business complex may soon replace some existing businesses and open space at a major borough intersection.
The Zoning Board of Adjustment has granted a use variance, as well as minor subdivision approval, to Renaissance Properties, which wants to develop a large tract fronting Summerhill Road and Main Street. The board made its decision the May 21 meeting, the first night the application was heard.
If Renaissance Properties receives site plan approval, it will be free to construct a large business center on 5.5 acres of land, borough engineer Bruce Koch, CME Associates, said. That would mean some of the properties on the site, including a real estate office and accounting firm, would be purchased and demolished to make way for a number of new businesses proposed by the developer.
The new development would include a two-story office building, a bank, retail space and a day-care center, Koch said. The office and retail building would take up more than 20,000 square feet, while the bank would cover about 2,700 square feet. A separate retail building would cover 18,416 square feet, and the day-care center would cover 8,920 square feet. It was unclear if the developer already had tenants for the retail spaces.
The plan encompasses the sites of the Bonamici Colletti accounting office, which has already moved to a new location on Summerhill Road, and the DeStefano real estate agency.
"The businesses being bought have been around awhile," Koch said.
In addition, Renaissance Properties plans to purchase an adjacent lot that has a house on it, as well another nearby lot that is vacant. Koch said those parcels would become part of the new 5.5-acre business area.
He said the vacant parcel is partially wooded and includes an open field.
"It’s redevelopment," he said of the project. "They’re taking the existing land and knocking the buildings down."
Koch said he was not sure if the businesses that are already there had been purchased yet or if the developer only has a contract to buy them contingent upon Zoning Board approval of its application.
Renaissance Properties had its civil engineer, architect and planner testify at the May 21 board meeting.
The developer will return to the board June 18 to gain site plan approval.