West Windsor mayor dismisses implications for train station redevelopment area
By: Greg Forester
WEST WINDSOR A recent Sitar-Rutgers report on the office space market in Mercer County paints a bleak picture, saying the economic indicators for the office market appear stagnant with the possibility of hitting a record high in square feet of vacant space.
In this same environment there is redevelopment planning being undertaken for a 350-acre area around the Princeton Junction train station with the township in the process of determining the exact form of a project that has already seen plans having anywhere from around 250,000 to 850,000 square feet of office space.
All of this new space is being planned in an office market that is currently weak, according to these economic reports.
But the slow market doesn’t worry West Windsor’s mayor.
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said he feels the location of any office space within the redevelopment area would be so close to the train station that it would attract more potential tenants than office space elsewhere in the West Windsor area.
"A lot of businesses are looking for office space right next to a train station like ours, one of the busiest in the United States," said Mayor Hsueh. "Plus we do have the ability to control the construction of any further office space within the redevelopment zone."
The weak market may be old news given the plethora of empty office buildings up and down Alexander Road and Route 1, but it could still affect the redevelopment project, which would bring additional offices to the same market Sitar-Rutgers Regional Report said has not shown strong growth.
The Sitar-Rutgers report actually showed an even slower market than what an Economic Research Associates report showed at a June township meeting, with both reports evaluating the Mercer County office space market.
The ERA report showed a smaller vacancy rate, around 10.6 percent, and a higher potential cost for each square foot of office space, at around $45. The Sitar-Rutgers report pegged the vacancy rate in Mercer County for the second quarter of 2007 at 16.2 percent, and a price per square foot of around $28.
In what could be called a precaution, RMJM Hillier, the planning firm for the redevelopment area, has advised the township to prevent the construction of further office space within the 350-acre redevelopment area until a plan is approved and tenants begin signing contracts to lease office space from the area, according to Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh.
Councilwoman Heidi Kleinman said the transportation system of the area, and the ability to get tenants, shoppers, and employees to what development occurs near the train station was also important to the viability of any office space.
"I definitely think the location of the train station has a tremendous effect on the viability of the office space, but transportation systems linking up the offices and retail shopping are also critical," Ms. Kleinman said
She said the train station and the planned Bus Rapid Transit system were good examples of what was needed to have an office space market that was strengthened by the area’s transportation network.
Planning Board Chairman Marvin Gardner said that given the potential length of time before the project was actually completed, the office space market would have plenty of time to turn around.
"We need to recognize that even if redevelopment moves forward it will still take a considerable amount of time, and the market could definitely change," said Mr. Gardner. "While the real estate market is clearly sluggish and stagnant, it is also a very cyclical market."
Those words were echoed by Bradley Walters, senior associate at RMJM Hillier.
"Any specific building use will inevitably have market volatility over time, and it is important to remember that the redevelopment plan is not a ‘project’ to be built in a year or two, but rather a land use plan to guide development in the area for years to come," he said. "It is likely that over the course of the plans ultimate implementation, the various markets will have numerous ups and downs."
Currently, the township doesn’t have a consistent vacancy issue at all, having office buildings in many different states of occupancy, according to Mr. Gardner.
Mr. Gardner said one large building located near the MarketFair shopping center was nearly 50 percent full after its recent completion, while another large building located near the intersection of Alexander Road and Route 1 had not yet found many tenants.
"No one can really predict how this market will perform, but hopefully it will return to a robust and successful market," Mr. Gardner said.
Other township officials said they feel it was too premature to have discussions about the office space market, at least until the community decided what it was willing to include in the project.
"The ultimate question about this project for the West Windsor community is about tradeoff," said Councilman Charles Morgan. "We need to know what the residents are willing to accept, the problems we have now or the problems of what has been proposed."
One West Windsor resident said he hopes future economic reports put together by any consulting firms are more in-depth than the one put together by ERA.
"This looks like the kind of analysis put together in a day or two, and not the kind of analysis we need to make informed decisions," said David Siegel, of Berrien Avenue, who wants to see a different firm put together a future report. "Would you ask a plumber to do work at your house if in previous jobs he had left leaks all over your house?" he asked.

