Full development seen ranging from several decades to a matter of a few years
By: Molly Petrilla
WEST WINDSOR Representatives from two planning firms hoping to redevelop the 350-acre area around Princeton Junction train station offered starkly different completion estimates at public meetings held last week.
Andres Duany, co-founder of Duany Plater-Zyberk (DPZ) the Miami-based planning firm that has teamed up with Princeton architectural firm Michael Graves & Associates told members of the Township Council, Planning Board and community Monday night that the project would take several decades to complete, adding, "We won’t live to see it."
Two nights later, however, J. Robert Hillier, chairman and founder of West Windsor-based Hillier Architecture, said his firm would complete the project in a fraction of that time. It would take a year to create a plan and line up developers, he said, but in six years new parking arrangements would be in place and most retail and housing facilities would be finished.
In their presentation Sept. 30, representatives from the project’s third finalist, Street-Works LLC of White Plains, N.Y., placed their completion estimate at approximately 15 years.
On Monday, representatives from DPZ, Michael Graves & Associates and the 10 other companies they would team up with for the project outlined their ideas in an hour-long presentation, followed by nearly two hours of question-and-answer discussion.
Gary Lapera, Michael Graves’ principal-in-charge who would serve as lead architect on the project, said his company is both ready and eager to "unleash the potential for growth" on "one of the most valuable pieces of land in the state of New Jersey.
"This is a very empowered community with a spectacular site," he added. "It’s been a long time since we’ve seen an opportunity like this."
Mr. Duany said DPZ has extensive experience in transit-oriented development and has completed projects in Charlotte, N.C., Ridgewood and Jersey City and Greenbelt, Md.
In particular, he stressed the public-oriented nature of his firm’s design process, adding that DPZ has run more than 240 charrettes meetings in which members of the community are invited to voice their ideas and concerns as a redevelopment plan takes shape.
These charrettes typically run for eight to 10 days, he said, and include public sessions held "morning, noon and night."
He added, "It’s a process of the most intense participation imaginable. If some group is not being represented, we hunt them down." During the sessions, "we will pursue any idea that’s proposed. We don’t talk very much about ideas we draw them and then talk about them."
But while Mr. Duany said he would be present for the entire charrette process, Planning Board President Marvin Gardner expressed his concern about the co-founder’s heavy travel schedule and his office’s Miami address.
"How available will you be to West Windsor?" he asked.
Mr. Duany said he would be able to meet onsite with about three weeks’ notice, adding that the firm’s project manager who was not present at Monday’s meeting is based in DPZ’s Washington office and could drive to West Windsor on short notice. In addition, he said, most of the other companies his firm would involve in the project are based within a 70-mile radius.
On Wednesday night, residents and township officials had an opportunity to hear from Hillier Architecture representatives the last of the three finalist firms to make a presentation.
In his opening remarks, Hillier Architecture’s lead urban designer, Anish Kumar, said his company thrives on input from the public, which it would elicit through four three-hour workshops.
In these meetings, residents would offer their ideas, draw diagrams in groups of 10 and create 3-D models using blocks, he explained. Before the final session, Mr. Kumar said Hillier would examine residents’ design proposals for common themes before creating a final set of plans, sketches and artist renderings to present at the fourth session.
Mr. Hillier pointed to his company’s West Windsor address and open-door policy as a means for redevelopment success.
"We are emotionally invested in this place," he said. "We’re here. … We’re part of the community. After tonight, I could actually walk back to (our) office."
In addition, Mr. Hillier said his firm would like to see half of the 350-acre site dedicated to open space, which would allow the township to "save land and create a network of green."
In approaching the site, Mr. Hillier said his team would first address the issues regarding the train station and then add public amenities, shopping and services for commuters and ground-level office and retail buildings topped by apartments.
Bradley Waters, Hillier’s associate designer who is also a member of the West Windsor Planning Board, said the company would work hard to balance commuter and resident traffic and also strive to create a strong identity for the township.
Mr. Hillier pointed to the importance of a space in the center of the township that would be both "a place to be proud of" and "a place to go on a Saturday."
He asked, "Where is that special place in West Windsor? That is what we are on a mission to create."
At the end of Wednesday night’s meeting, Mr. Gardner again congratulated residents on their participation in "this noble experiment." The township is one of the first in the state to allow the public to interview potential planning firms, he said, adding that other municipalities will likely emulate the procedure when they "learn of our remarkable success.
"We as a town should feel justifiably proud of our accomplishments," he said. "(Residents’) questions were perceptive, analytical, insightful, intelligent and thought-provoking."
Members of the public may submit comments in writing through the mayor’s office up to Oct. 10 a deadline that Mr. Gardner said may be extended. Residents can also make comments on the three firms at the Township Council’s regular meeting Oct. 10.
The council will also meet with the Planning Board and a seven-member search committee Oct. 11 to discuss the three firms’ presentations. The final decision lies in the hands of council members, who will select a team for the project at a public meeting. The date for this final decision has not yet been determined, but will likely take place before the end of October, Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said Thursday.

