Sprawling village plan

mulled for Rte. 18 site

Council looks at Toll Bros.’ proposal for Golden Triangle

BY VINCENT TODARO

Staff Writer

An East Brunswick township committee has recommended that Toll Bros. be selected to redevelop the area known as the Golden Triangle.

Chosen from a pool of seven interested developers, Toll Bros. made a presentation to the Township Council Monday on how it would transform the site bordered by Route 18, Tices Lane and Old Bridge Turnpike into a mixed-use village. The 32-acre township-owned area is presently home to Sam’s Club, Jason’s Furniture and the Route 18 Market, which have leases through 2008, and is also the site of the township’s Transportation and Commerce Center park-and-ride lot.

Toll Bros. has offered East Brunswick $30,460,000, but that figure could change during negotiations, officials said. The sale could fall through if either side is not satisfied with the outcome of the negotiations.

According to its proposal, Toll Bros. would construct a sprawling, pedestrian-friendly village of 15 to 18 buildings that includes from 250,000 to 287,000 square feet of retail space and 250,000 square feet of office space, and between 210 and 230 senior citizen condominium units, according to information provided by Frank Regan, the attorney hired by the township for the redevelopment process.

The proposal includes 3,700 parking spaces in three to four new parking garages and surface parking. Commuters at the park-and-ride would use a four-level, 1,500-stall garage — an increase of approximately 200 spots from what is currently provided — which would remain under township ownership, according to Mayor William Neary.

East Brunswick received proposals from seven developers, three of which Regan ruled did not materially meet the criteria in the township’s request for proposal (RFP). Those that did not meet the criteria were Avalon Bay Communities Inc. & Cypress Equities Northeast LLC, as well as Kara Homes & Gale Co., and Canada Land Co. Inc., according to Regan.

The three parties that qualified but were not selected were Denholtz Management Corp. & Jayden Construction Co., which bid about $33 million; East Brunswick Town Center LLC, which bid $25.3 million; and Somerset Development LLC, which bid $11 million.

The deadline for proposals was March 15.

The township’s Golden Triangle Redevelopment Committee met several times privately to discuss the proposals before making its recommendation in favor of Toll Bros.

Council President David Stahl, who sat on the redevelopment committee, said the panel used 15 criteria in reviewing the proposals, including project design, traffic flow and other factors, and graded aspects of each of the four qualifying proposals. The grades were added up, with Toll Bros. receiving the highest score. He said committee members looked hard at the plans, also reviewing the other three to glean ideas that could be incorporated into the final project.

According to Robert Fuller, vice president of Toll Bros., the company seeks to "create a compelling vision and a sense of place to support the community identity." More specifically, it would include a boulevard entrance as well as parking throughout the site. He said it would be a "walkable village" with banking, medical and restaurant services largely for the seniors who live in the condos and the commuters.

There would also be open space and a center plaza that would be used for passive recreation and community activities.

When built out, the proposal could yield $3 million in annual tax revenue for the township, officials said.

The proposal does not include the existing businesses, though their presence was not specifically ruled out. The mixed-use redevelopment zone for the site seeks scaled-down retail operations of no more than 50,000 square feet. The three existing businesses have a combined total of 231,632 square feet.

Some present at Monday’s meeting questioned the whole idea, contending that the council and administration are fast-tracking the process without adequate public input. They claimed the administration is purposely withholding information.

Councilwoman Christi Calvano, a Republican who is running against Neary for mayor, asked why she was not shown the proposals until Monday night. In response, Neary held up a blank sheet of paper and said the answer was because Calvano had asked to see the proposals that number of times.

Calvano angrily responded that she had been asking to see the proposals since the submission deadline, but that Neary did not let her.

The township did not make the proposals available to the newspaper after they were submitted. Regan and Township Attorney Michael Baker have said they did not consider them to be public information.

All three GOP candidates in the November election said the process should be slowed because residents are generally unaware of the redevelopment idea.

Republican council hopeful Walter Decker said he went door-to-door campaigning this week and found that almost everyone he spoke with knew nothing of the idea. They said they are against more building, though, Decker said.

"We have enough traffic on Route 18," he said.

He suggested that the redevelopment proposal be put out to voters in a referendum.

Calvano said she has serious concerns about the traffic impact.

She said the process is moving too quickly, with the details just coming out Monday. She pointed to a thick stack of documents just presented to her that day. The council has a vote scheduled on the matter for this coming Monday night. At that time, the council is expected to vote on authorizing the administration to begin negotiations with Toll Bros.

Neary said he just wanted to get the council to agree to the "concept" of redeveloping the area for now. Negotiations with Toll Bros. still have to be held, he said, and the township is not bound to any deal with the developer.

One woman in attendance Monday said the township needs to consider the traffic impact now, rather than later, and should consider the inconveniences that such a development could bring to residents.

She said she is concerned that this area of Route 18 would become so crowded that people will avoid it.

Calvano noted that a township-commissioned Ernst & Young study from last year found that a new parking garage would cost $15,000 per spot to build. That equates to over $22 million, yet the township has not decided how that would be paid for.

Neary said that would be determined during negotiations and there are a number of funding methods available

Stahl said residents have been informed of the process up to this point in part through newspapers and the televised council meetings.

Democratic Councilman Donald Klemp, who is seeking re-election this fall, noted that the actual plan will be different from the conceptual plan being presented, which is really a work in progress.