EDISON — A representative from Hartz Mountain Industries shared the company’s plans for the future of the Edison Towne Square project at a recent Township Council meeting.
Hartz was successful in seeking the council’s approval of an amendment to the redevelopment agreement at the May 27 meeting. The amendment will allow the developer to proceed with a plan that has been scaled back since the project’s inception in 2008.
Allen Magrini, Hartz Mountain senior vice president of land use and development, gave a brief presentation updating the council on the project. He cited the original redevelopment plan between Hartz and the township, which covered what at that time was 1.2 million square feet of retail space.
Two years after the agreement was established, Hartz hit some roadblocks, Magrini said.
“The economy got very difficult,” he said. “We had some difficult times with the marketing.”
The result was only one retailer signing on — Sam’s Club.
Magrini said it was also a tough time for the state Department of Transportation (DOT), which affected the approval process. Ultimately, the DOT told Hartz the project was too big and required the developer to scale back its plans, Magrini said.
“That sent us all back to the drawing board,” he said.
According to Magrini, Hartz now has a letter of conceptual approval from the DOT on the revised smaller development, which will encompass just under 700,000 square feet of retail space.
Plans include using some of that space for a 60,000-square-foot driving range/restaurant/ entertainment facility.
The rest of the site, he said, would be keeping with the established permitted uses there, including office space and a hotel.
“There’s no housing involved in this development,” he said.
The revised plans also include road improvements, such as work on the Forest Haven Boulevard jughandle and on Old Post Road North and Old Post Road South.
The plan also includes the creation of an additional egress on Route 1 north, which Magrini said would reduce the traffic at the Old Post North and Route 1 intersection.
Hartz was about 30 days away from final engineering drawings for the highway improvements, Magrini said at the meeting. The DOT is also requiring Hartz to contribute $4 million to as-yet-unnamed road projects.
Magrini expressed optimism about the future of the site.
“We finally have it back on track now,” he said “We’re looking to move all of these components forward.”
Although one resident expressed concerns about the Route 1 egress, the council approved the resolution, allowing Hartz to proceed.