Trial to be held in state Superior Court in New Brunswick
By: Paul Koepp
The trial in a lawsuit filed by the developer of the former Metroplex site against the township and the Planning Board is set to begin Friday morning.
The lawsuit, filed in May 2006 by South Brunswick Center LLC, alleges that the township did not give the company enough time to complete a road cutting through the site, which is bounded by Route 1, Deans Lane, the Northeast Corridor rail line and Major Road.
The trial will be argued in state Superior Court in New Brunswick in front of Judge James Hurley, who ruled against the township in the recent lawsuit over the Riya Finnegans development in Brunswick Acres.
According to South Brunswick Center’s suit, the township unfairly refused to extend the June 2006 deadline to finish the 8,800-foot road, known as the Northumberland Connection, causing the developer to potentially lose its rights to build more than 6 million square feet of office space on the site. The 20-year vesting period of the developer’s agreement with the township was conditioned on the construction of the road by the company. The suit also alleges that the township failed to obtain third-party properties near Major Road to facilitate the construction of the road.
The suit includes five counts: breach of contract; "estoppel," which would keep the township from using the Northumberland Connection; unjust enrichment by the township from the completed parts of the road; relief based on the township’s failure to acquire the third-party properties; and breach of a covenant of good faith and fair dealing.
South Brunswick Center LLC has spent more than $9.6 million on the construction of the road, including a bridge across a section of wetlands, and has been left with a "road to nowhere," according to the lawsuit.
In spring 2004, the township gave South Brunswick Center LLC a two-year extension to finish the road. The company did not start building the road until 2004 because of delays in getting approvals from the township engineer, CME Associates, according to the lawsuit.
Various plans have been proposed over the years for the 500-acre former Metroplex site, including a mixed-use development built around a train station, an office park with high-rises and a senior housing development.

