Planning Board reviews building designs; work expected to begin in June.
By: Shanay Cadette
PLAINSBORO Expect to see something other than piles of dirt at the Village Center this summer.
In the "very near future, you’ll see something coming out of the ground," Thomas Troy, senior vice president of Sharbell Development Corp., told Planning Board members this week.
Members perused four building designs including brick, fieldstone and clapboard facades to be featured at the mixed-use development slated for construction along Schalks Crossing Road.
The Village Center will ultimately be a smorgasbord of retail and office space, housing and public spaces when it is finished in the next few years. Each of the four building designs unveiled Monday also include an arched walk-through section that creates the effect of a plaza.
"We’re really pleased with the architecture, the variety," said Community Development Director Michael LaPlace.
"I’m delighted to see it," said Planning Board member Thomas Hall about the Village Center designs. "We can’t wait to get it up."
Mr. Troy expects a bank, coffee shop, upscale boutiques, a restaurant, a pub and other types of retail and service-oriented stores will be housed at the center. "We’re trying to get away from the 99-cent, the dry cleaner" type stores, he said.
The entire second floor of the four buildings will be office space and elevator-accessible.
Next month is the earliest residents can expect to see some construction. "I would expect in June, certainly, we should be able to get under way," said Township Planning and Zoning Officer Ron Yake after the meeting.
If the leasing of the space is brisk, Mr. Yake added, the center should be finished in 1½ to two years.
Because the Village Center will not be built in phases, the housing and a 220-unit age-restricted assisted-living facility will be constructed around the same time. Roseland Property Group was slated to build the senior facility on Plainsboro Road and Enterprise Drive, but officials said it voluntarily pulled out of the deal. Toll Brothers is now the facility’s developer.
Officials remain undecided about relocating the Plainsboro Public Library to the center. A YMCA or civic center was initially proposed for a building at the rear of the Village Center, but officials have talked about moving the library there instead. Cost and design issues are still under consideration. Officials should reach a decision about the library this summer, Mr. LaPlace said.
"The next thing we have to get to with your staff is a fairly comprehensive signage program," Mr. Troy told board members.
He also suggested workers construct a 6- to 7-foot plywood barrier in the next few weeks to ensure safety at the site. Mr. Troy plans to invite local schools to paint it next month to "make it fun, (so it’s) not just this boring, anonymous wall."
"I think it’s a great idea create some fun out of it," Mayor Peter Cantu said.