By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
New York real estate firm George Comfort & Sons, the former owner of the Princeton Shopping Center, will acquire about 4.5 acres of vacant land on the shopping center property that is zoned for senior housing.
A proposal to subdivide the land was filed with the municipal planning office on May 28, calling for the 32.6-acre site to be split into two new lots. Edens, the South Carolina-based company that has owned the center since the middle of 2012, would retain 28.1 acres as part of one lot, while Comfort & Sons would have 4.1 as part of the other.
The proposal first needs to go through municipal staff review and then have a hearing before the municipal Planning Board, said town planning director Lee O. Solow on Wednesday. A hearing is expected sometime in August or September.
Comfort & Sons owned the shopping center beginning in 1983 until selling to Edens in 2012.
Rich Goldman, the attorney representing Comfort & Sons, said Thursday that when Edens bought the center, the agreement reserved the right for Comfort & Sons to subdivide the portion of the property that is not zoned for shopping center use. He said the line of the proposed subdivision follows the zone line.
“So this was always contemplated, because that vacant land can’t be used for the shopping center,” Mr. Goldman said.
Asked about the company using the land to build a residential development, Mr. Goldman responded: “They are exploring those opportunities.”
On its website, Comfort & Sons lists real estate holdings in New York City, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania, including the Quakerbridge Plaza in Hamilton. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Mayor Liz Lempert had no comment this week about the subdivision proposal. She sits on the Planning Board, and would have to vote on whether to grant the subdivision or not.
A representative for Edens did not respond to a request for comment.
