Board takes 2nd look at retail/hotel proposal for Probasco Road
By Anthony V. Coppola, Staff Writer
EAST WINDSOR The Township Planning Board resumed discussions this week on a conceptual plan for a multi-use complex that, among other things, would bring a five-story, 130-room hotel to Probasco Road.
Before the plan moves forward, Planning Board member Mayor Janice Mironov said at Monday night’s meeting that it is critical to have a process in place with the developer that allows the township to have a say in prospective tenants.
”A bookstore is on the top of my list,” Mayor Mironov said Wednesday.
Board members also expressed interest in having a coffee shop on the 30-acre, 166,000-square-foot site on Probasco Road between Route 33 and Wyckoffs Mill Road.
The former location of the Pitt Ohio trucking depot is now owned by Blitzer & Rosenblum Realty, of Old Bridge, whose representatives first appeared before the board in December. At that time they revealed their 11-building plan, which includes the hotel, a bank, retail and office space, and a day-care center.
B&R’s engineer Richard Kenderian said Monday night that the development company is trying to create is a “downtown, turn-of-the-century center.” With 899 parking spots and more than 40 percent of the property to remain open space, Mr. Kenderian added that the site would be “very well balanced.”
Mayor Mironov said the board’s goal for the proposal would be to “bring in something different than what ends up in shopping centers along highways throughout the state.”
B&R President Steven Blitzer presented to the board a list of the type of tenants that have leased locations in the company’s other projects, which includes one in Old Bridge, and said he would work with the township to satisfy its requests to the best of his ability.
Mr. Blitzer said gauging the real estate market today is a challenge, let alone two-to-three years down the road, which is his estimation of a completion time for a project of this size.
”Until the leases get signed, we can’t make any promises to the town,” he told the board.
The focal point of The Crossing at East Windsor, the center’s tentative name, would be a drug store, according to Mr. Kenderian. This proposal didn’t thrill the board when it was introduced in December.
”We realize the township doesn’t want another drug store as the prominent feature of a project such as this,” Mr. Kenderian said. “However, we also realize a drug store is a very practical and important anchor to a project of this size.”
On Wednesday, Mayor Mironov said she understood the economic importance of having a drug store at the complex and was pleased by B&R’s willingness to work with the township to create “an attractive setting for the potential store.”
That setting includes a pond, fountain and decorative wall at the corner of Probasco Road and Route 33 the proposed location of the drug store.
”We feel these features would go a long way in muting the drug store,” Mr. Kenderian said.
Development officials are proposing a Colonial theme for the project, but the board urged them to return in June with examples of other design schemes.
”We just want to see all of our options,” said board member John Zoller.
The township had more concerns than just how the site looks and what tenants it has. The impact on surrounding residents also came up.
Mayor Mironov said the center’s relationship to residents across from the site on Probasco Road is a critical component. She specifically cited the complex’s setback from Probasco Road and how it would be landscaped.
The Crossing would feature three access points on Probasco Road, one on Route 33 and one on Wyckoffs Mill Road. Mr. Kenderian said a 40-foot-wide, well-planted buffer would border the complex along Probasco Road. He added that the access points mesh well with the residential entrances (Avon Road and Bolton Drive), and that there also are plans for three to four crosswalks connecting the center to those two entrances.
Mayor Mironov called B&R’s proposal “very attractive,” and said changes to the township’s Master Plan and the property’s zoning would be needed if the two sides reach an agreement.
The property is currently zoned research/office, and the development company has requested changing it to highway/commercial to better accommodate its plans.