Development proposed for 152-acre site off Milford Road would import culture, art, architecture and history from India.
By: Dick Brinster
EAST WINDSOR It would take about seven years to build the Indian American Cultural Complex, which a point man for the developer says would be a "very positive presence" in the township, and not just as a major tourist attraction.
Land-use attorney Henry Kent-Smith says the timetable to start and complete construction is dependent on approval of the $142 million complex by local and state officials. That process, during which the public would have its say, is expected to be completed in the next year.
"Hopefully, you will leave tonight well-informed about what we are proposing," Mr. Kent-Smith told an audience of about 100 who came to the Holiday Inn on Thursday night to hear a presentation about the IACC concept.
The complex would import culture, art, architecture and history from India. It would be built on a 152-acre site off Milford Road, bordering the New Jersey Turnpike.
Middles Country-based BAPS Inc., an international nonprofit organization serving the Indian community, would own the complex. BAPS bought the industrially zoned land next to the Conair plant two years ago.
"As part of this project, we will be carrying our fair share," Mr. Kent-Smith said of the economic impact tax-exempt BAPS would make through a payment in lieu of taxes program. He did not elaborate but indicated more information is forthcoming.
Mr. Kent-Smith of Saul Eking of Princeton, the legal team and one of seven companies directly involved in developing the project, said the complex would create local employment opportunities, bolster area businesses and raise local real estate values.
A project fact sheet says 1,049 construction jobs would be filled and that 205 people would be needed for complex operations on a permanent basis. But Mr. Kent-Smith said hard numbers and a timeline would be determined as the concept is advanced.
The site plan calls for buildings to occupy 21 percent of the parcel just to the south of the Conair complex on the edge of Rocky Brook and across the road from Etra Lake in the northeast corner of the township near the Twin Rivers community. Another 26 percent of the land would be green space on which fountains, parks and gardens would be built, and 53 percent would retain a natural status.
Various buildings included in the proposed complex are an assembly hall, conference and exhibition center, youth center, food court and shopping area, Indian restaurant, yoga and meditation center, house of worship, library and research center, and visitor’s center.
For the full text of this story, see the June 2 edition of the Windsor-Hights Herald.

