By: centraljersey.com
WEST WINDSOR – Demolition of two vacant buildings at Cranbury Road and Route 571 has begun, with a timetable of revamping the site and giving Rite Aid a new home by the summer.
Work began on Jan. 19 to clear the two buildings – formerly a service garage and retail strip – to make way for Rite Aid. The pharmacy will move to a standalone building down the street from its long-time home at the former Acme shopping center, now called the Windsor Plaza, on Route 571, according to Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh.
Rite Aid’s construction team, the Dreher Group, has received approval to construct a 14,673-square-foot Rite Aid and an additional 6,000 feet of retail space that might include a coffee shop or restaurant, said Pat Ward, director of Community Development.
"Rite Aid received zoning board approval for a second building for retail space, but that wouldn’t take place in this phase of construction," she said. "Right now, they’re just planning to build the pharmacy."Mayor Hsueh said the process is moving along but has been delayed by the snow. The township is also working with the county, since Route 571 is a county road, to bring the entire site down to street level.
"Doing that would require almost 300 trucks of dirt to be moved out of the area," he said. "Our township engineer is working with the county to decide where they will move this dirt to. In addition to coordinating the soil line, we’re working with them on roadway improvements, sidewalks and landscaping."
Mayor Hsueh said the design would be consistent and with the adjacent PNC Bank as well as with the streetscape specifications of the Route 571 Concept Plan, which was approved by the Town Council in 2005 and later approved by the county.
The mayor said Rite Aid has owned the property for several years but the project was delayed while the company went through reorganization.
"We’ve had many complaints from the neighborhood that Rite Aid demo the old buildings," he said. "Putting up plywood was just a temporary solution. But the township has been aggressively working with them for about two years, and I’m glad they’re finally moving ahead."
Because Rite Aid purchased the property before the township’s redevelopment was approved, construction plans do not need to go to the planning board for approval. No township money will go toward the demolition or construction, the mayor said, because it’s private property.
"The township’s role is to facilitate the changes and make it easier for them to move forward and keep the improvements consistent with the plans, but we don’t have any authority to force them to do anything," he said.
The former retail strip housed a Chinese-Japanese restaurant, a Domino’s pizza restaurant, Chicken Holiday and a paint store over the past few years.

