OLD BRIDGE — An upscale shopping and lifestyle center has been given the green light for the intersection of Route 9 and Texas Road at the border of Old Bridge and Marlboro.
The Shoppes at Old Bridge, to be built by Ohio-based Stanbery Acquisitions, was approved unanimously by the Zoning Board of Adjustment on May 12.
The shopping center will include 101,022 square feet of retail space and 20,363 square feet of offices on the 28-acre site, which stretches from Old Bridge’s border with Marlboro north to Route 18.
“This is a large property,” said Steven Lydon, a planner retained by Stanbery. “We’re not trying to shoehorn in a development on a small parcel.”
The shopping center will house a mix of national fashion, home goods and food vendors, according to testimony given by Stanbery representatives at a March zoning board hearing.
The company also owns The Grove, on Route 35, Shrewsbury, and representatives likened this project to that shopping center.
“This will reinforce the retail nature of the highway,” Lydon said.
Though the site area is zoned for residential use, Stanbery representatives pointed out that in numerous drafts of Old Bridge’s master plan, township officials have recommended the parcel for commercial or mixed-use development.
“I believe this is the right place [for something like this],” said zoning board Chairman Kiran Desai.
“We did clearly recognize the need for balance in commercial and residential development,” said Russell Azzarello, director of the Economic Development Commission and a former Old Bridge mayor.
Azzarello said highways are major opportunities to bring in tax ratables. And with senior housing facilities so close to the proposed site, a shopping complex is an excellent idea, he said.
“Those are major shoppers,” Azzarello said of seniors. “We’d like to see them shop in Old Bridge, as opposed to seeing them shop elsewhere.”
The shops that would occupy the site, being called a “lifestyle center” by Stanbery representatives, would be the type that would attract shoppers to Old Bridge, Azzarello said.
According to a community impact statement prepared by Lydon for Stanbery, the proposal represents a $17.3 million development that will generate an estimated $616,341 in property tax revenue from the site annually.
Net revenues to the municipality and school district total $427,888, including $40,078 directly to the municipality and $387,810 to the school system, the statement says.
“[Stanbery] took a property hindered by wetlands and turned it into a productive tax ratable,” Azzarello said.
Stanbery will widen Texas Road and create a six-lane section of that road as it approaches Route 9, according to testimony. Modifications will also be made to allow for a more modern traffic signal. New sidewalks along Texas Road, pending state Department of Transportation approval, are also part of the plan.
The development firm will fund the improvements required for the roads in their entirety, not just pay what was discussed as its “fair share,” Stanbery officials have said.
Conditions for the application’s approval include placing a bus stop nearby for seniors and the nonusage of a proposed faux-water tower, which will serve as a type of sign for the shopping center and may be used by cellular service providers.
“This is not a typical shopping center,” said Stanbery attorney Donna Erem.
The environment of the center, she said, will be more relaxed than that of a mall.
“I believe that it will be a benefit for Old Bridge,” Erem said.
Desai said Old Bridge residents will gain in a variety of ways, thanks in part to the aesthetics of the proposal. Residents, he said, can walk along the plaza and will have new options for shopping.
If the site were left undeveloped, he said, the township could not generate the kind of tax revenue it will bring in.
Construction is slated to begin in the fall, with stores opening in 2006.