‘Montgomery Promenade’ project must now face review
By: Jake Uitti
MONTGOMERY Madison Marquette officially announced its development plans Tuesday for Montgomery Promenade, an upscale retail and residential town center project on Route 206 that will now face township Planning Board review.
The announcement comes after years of planning and soliciting input from the public and township officials.
The company hopes to break ground later this year with a target completion date of spring 2008.
The 50-acre site north of the Princeton Airport would boast over 325,000 square feet of retail space, including a Stop&Shop supermarket, lifestyle merchants and restaurants, Madison Marquette officials said.
"Madison Marquette is planning Montgomery Promenade to be a true community focal point," said Jay Lask, managing director of investments of Madison Marquette, in a prepared statement.
He said retailers have been extremely enthusiastic about Montgomery Promenade.
Company representatives, he noted, met with dozens of retailers about the project at this week’s International Council of Shopping Centers Convention in Las Vegas.
Possible tenants could include Anne Taylor, Coach, L.L.Bean, American Eagle and Barnes & Noble.
Madison Marquette’s plans still require Planning Board approval, Mayor Louise Wilson pointed out.
"But they have done a lot of homework and met with a lot of people," the mayor said. "They have done the background work that is wise to do in order to make a smooth trip to the Planning Board."
Ms. Wilson added that Montgomery Promenade is expected to be a place where people would congregate, and would be built on a "pedestrian scale," with public spaces and outdoor dining.
"The folks at Madison Marquette have been highly professional and cooperative," she said. "They understand that this is the culmination of years of community-based planning, and they are looking to create a place that reflects what so many people are saying they want and need here in Montgomery. We expect this to be positive not only from a ratables standpoint, but also from a quality-of-life perspective."
Madison Marquette, a national real estate firm that also owns MarketFair shopping center in West Windsor, inherited an agreement with Stop&Shop when it purchased the land north of the airport.
In January, township officials, seeking to preview the design of a Stop&Shop supermarket, toured a store in Franklin Township. Madison Marquette arranged the tour.
Deputy Mayor Cecilia Birge, one of the tour’s participants, said of the brand-new facility on Easton Avenue, "I was very pleasantly surprised. It is not your traditional Stop&Shop that we’re all used to."
In addition, the Montgomery Promenade development proposes to construct three Master Plan roads within the site connecting to Routes 518 and 206, to help relieve traffic pressure at the congested intersection.
"They are creating a road network that will give people additional choices, consistent with the Master Plan and advice from the Transportation Advisory Committee," Mayor Wilson said.
Montgomery Promenade, if approved, will border Route 206 from just north of the Princeton Airport to the Amboy Bank property. On Route 518, the property has two frontage points: immediately west of Amboy Bank, as well a 3-acre area extending into the John Drake Farm, providing for a road connection opposite Research Road.

