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ROBBINSVILLE: Two developers present Town Center South plans

By Joanne Degnan, Staff Writer
   ROBBINSVILLE — Two of the firms vying to be named redeveloper of Town Center South recently unveiled their different ideas to the Township Council for redeveloping vacant land, homes and businesses on the south side of Route 33.
   The public presentations on March 10 by Nexus Properties and Sharbell both featured four-story mixed-use buildings of commercial, retail and residential units fronting Route 33 that essentially mirror the existing Sharbell development on the north side. The two concept plans varied, however, in size and the types of buildings and uses of other spaces on blocks farther away from Route 33.
   A third developer, Toll Brothers, sent a letter, which Council President Sheree McGowan read into the record, indicating that it too was developing a concept plan that it hoped to share with the mayor and council in the near future.
   The Township Council last fall voted to declare 90 acres on the south side of Route 33 as an “area in need of redevelopment,” a designation that gives the municipality broad powers to draft a plan and appoint a redeveloper.
   The concept plan provided by Nexus Properties was for the 40 acres of vacant land between Park Street and Robbinsville-Edinburg Road that are owned by the township, as well as some smaller properties fronting Route 33 that have various owners. The Nexus plan did not incorporate two large properties in the redevelopment district between Lake Drive and Washington Boulevard whose developers lost financing for their projects after credit markets collapsed in 2008.
   The Sharbell concept plan appears to incorporate those larger parcels, known as the Marrazzo-Messick and King properties, which are for sale and have prior township approvals for residential, office and retail buildings. Sharbell officials did not return a phone message left Monday.
   Ms. McGowan said at the start of the meeting that “nothing is carved in stone.” Before a redeveloper is selected, township officials will be working with their recently hired planner for Town Center South, Stuart Wiser of Remington Vernick & Arrango Engineers, to pick “what we think works” in the various concept ideas and draft a redevelopment plan, Ms. McGowan said.
   Nexus Properties CFO Dante Germano said his company’s concept plan envisions having Park Street (near Mack Dinette), Commerce Square and Robbinsville-Edinburg Road extend south past their current terminus at Route 33 into the new development. Commerce Square would serve as the main boulevard and would have landscaped islands as it does on the north side of Town Center.
   Mr. Germano said his plan calls for a total of 502 rental apartments, including 150 units located above the nine proposed retail/commercial buildings on Route 33. The remaining 352 apartments would be in 11 four-story buildings located farther inside the development amid parks and open spaces crisscrossed by an extensive network of walking paths that loop the entire neighborhood.
   The goal is to create a neighborhood that transitions from an “urbanistic pattern” on Route 33 into a “parks and recreation pattern that is a little more organic and less dense,” Mr. Germano said. The multifamily buildings separated by open green space are meant to evoke the look of “sculpture in a park,” he said.
   The Nexus proposal also includes a solar-energy generating farm with ground-mounted solar photovoltaic panels located near the southern end of the site close to where the long-stalled Route 33 bypass is planned. The bypass, a state project that has been on the drawing board for more than 20 years and is now on hold due to lack of funding, would extend Washington Boulevard south to a new road that would be constructed through mostly landlocked undeveloped properties until it eventually connects to Route 130 opposite South Gold Drive.
   Tom Troy, Sharbell’s senior vice president and a Town Center resident, presented three Town Center South concept plans that he said try to “mirror what’s happening on the north side” as far as Route 33 is concerned. The Sharbell plans envision similar four-story brick buildings on the south side of Route 33 that have condominiums on top of ground-level retail and commercial businesses.
   ”We felt it was very important to establish a similar street edge on the south side … because people really want to feel like they’re part of downtown,” Mr. Troy said. “So far, it’s almost like a Hollywood stage set out there — one side is built and the other side is open.”
   The Sharbell concept plans propose a mix of condominiums, townhouses, apartments and affordable housing units for the interior streets. There are between 528 and 757 residential units in Sharbell’s three different plans, as well as a mix of commercial, retail and office space, and a 6,000-to-8,000-square-foot “retail pad site” intended to attract a national chain restaurant or coffee shop.
   On the interior streets of the development, “there’s opportunity to do things that are a little more edgy and perhaps a little more green that would be more responsive to today’s demands for new development,” Mr. Troy said.
   Asked later in the meeting to elaborate, Mr. Troy said he was envisioning something “not quite as formal and traditional” as was done on the north side.
   ”I think we want to look at alternatives,” Mr. Troy said. “A big issue with homebuyers today is sustainability and energy awareness and that’s not how much you pay PSE&G but whether you are using sustainable materials.
   ”There’s a lot of wasted energy in (making) brick and some of the other elements imposed (on the north side of Town Center),” Mr. Troy said. “It might not be a bad time to take a look at these things and break the mold we cast earlier.”
   Sharbell’s “Concept 1” would provide 125,000 square feet of commercial space, a 6,000-square-foot retail pad site, 250 market-rate condos, 125 affordable housing units and 241 townhomes, Mr. Troy said.
   Concept Plan 2 would provide 259 market-rate condos, 153 affordable housing units, 156 townhomes, and 189 apartments for a total of 757 residential units. There would be 130,000 square feet of commercial space and an 8,000-square-foot retail pad site.
   The third plan, which Mr. Troy referred to as Concept Plan 2B, increases the amount of commercial space to 200,000 square feet, proposes 40 fewer townhomes and replaces the 189 apartments on the southern extension of Robbinsville-Edinburg Road with office buildings.
   Mr. Troy said it would take 15 to 20 years to completely finish building the Town Center South project. The northern section of Town Center north has been under construction for about 11 years.
   Township Council members did not indicate a preference for either developer’s plan during a question-and-answer period that followed.
   Councilman Vince Calcagno said one of his priorities was creating more recreation opportunities for residents on the south side. Councilwoman Chris Ciaccio agreed, saying that residents have told her that “families are looking for a place to walk around and kids in high school would like to have someplace to go.”
   Councilman Rich Levesque asked both developers if their plans depended on the Route 33 bypass being built to keep traffic circulating adequately. Both Mr. Germano and Mr. Troy said their developments could be built without it.
   Tindall Road resident George Vardakis asked whether there was a consensus among the smaller-property owners whose land fronts the south side of Route 33 to move ahead with redevelopment.
   Robert Beckelman, the township’s redevelopment counsel, said it was “way too early to determine that” because the township has not drafted a plan yet.
   None of the property owners in the redevelopment district spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting, although several were in attendance.
   Under the 1992 New Jersey Local Redevelopment and Housing Law, a municipality that declares an area in need of redevelopment has the power to acquire property through negotiation or condemnation; clear land and install infrastructure; relocate residents and businesses if necessary; and issue bonds without the down-payment that would otherwise be required for traditional municipal bond ordinances. The law also permits loans, grants, tax abatements and exemptions to encourage businesses to proceed with redevelopment plans.