MONTGOMERY: Township awards two liquor licenses for $1 million

By Kristine Snodgrass, Staff Writer
   MONTGOMERY — Two liquor licenses — each priced at $506,000 — were awarded to the Montgomery Promenade shopping center by the Township Committee at its meeting Thursday night.
   The center, a high-end retail and residential development planned for a 53.5-acre site off Route 206 north of Princeton Airport, received approval from the township last year.
   It is planned to include 325,000 square feet of retail space and a central plaza. A 32-unit residential section, comprised of 16 age-restricted duplexes, will occupy both sides of an approximately half-mile street near the pedestrian-friendly shopping center, as approved by the Planning Board earlier this year.
   Committeewoman Louise Wilson said the purchase is a good sign for the future of the project.
   ”I took it as very good news for the town that they were willing to bid on two more liquor licenses and pay more than a half a million dollars for each,” she said. “They are clearly serious about moving the project ahead.”
   It is the third liquor license the center has purchased, she said. The purchase was made in order to finalize lease agreements with a Barnes & Noble bookstore planned for the center. The bookstore wanted assurance that there would be six restaurants at the shopping center in order to attract potential customers to the store, she said.
   Currently, Montgomery Promenade hopes to break ground next year, she said, but the economy has caused some uncertainty.
   ”If the economy is still in the toilet in March, who knows what they’ll do,” she said.
   Also at the meeting, Mayor Cecilia Birge welcomed Kacey Dyer, who will become the second Republican on the committee, according to preliminary election results released by Somerset County. The mayor invited Ms. Dyer to sit with council at its upcoming meeting Thursday, when the Planning Board will make a presentation of the township’s affordable housing plan.