Route 33 expected to see
significant building over 5 years
Zoning would permit
a mix of professional,
retail and ‘flex’ uses
BY MARK ROSMAN
Staff Writer
Part one of a two-part series

JEFF GRANIT staff The Kaempffer Realty Group, Freehold, owns a 170-acre tract that lies in Monroe and Millstone along Route 33 at Perrineville Road. A lack of sewers on the Millstone portion is one factor that slows development.

A road that was called the Manalapan Turnpike decades ago when it linked Manalapan in Monmouth County with Hightstown in Mercer County could become a booming corridor in central New Jersey over the next decade.

While the stretch of Route 33 from Millhurst Road in Manalapan to Applegarth Road in Monroe is still largely undeveloped, that may not be the case for much longer.

With some construction projects under way, others with municipal approvals, and still more in the development pipeline, Route 33 could see transformation from a semi-rural state road to a major commercial corridor.

Whether Manalapan, Millstone and Monroe municipal officials are willing to work together to come up with a regional plan that could lead to a coordinated development effort remains to be seen.

Manalapan officials put their plan for the development of the Route 33 corridor in their community in place about a decade ago and are watching that plan take shape, said Rich Cramer, the township’s planner.

The Route 33 corridor in Manalapan between Millhurst and Iron Ore roads is primarily a mix of three zones: residential, retail and special economic development. The former Probasco farm at the corner of Millhurst Road and Route 33 is zoned for Village Commercial development. A concept plan for a retail-entertainment center has been made to municipal officials, but no formal application has been presented to the Planning Board.

One sticking point to the development of the Village Commercial property is the fact that there has been no resolution to the question of access to the property from Route 33, Cramer said.

Manalapan will see its residential development in the Route 33 corridor at only a handful of locations. One is The Grande at Battleground, just off the Route 33 corridor on Millhurst Road. That project includes age-restricted housing and some houses that are open to people of all ages.

Site work has started on Route 33 about one mile west of Millhurst Road on the Four Seasons development, which will be an age-restricted community of 690 single-family homes and a 100-unit rental apartment building for seniors. The apartments will be rented in accordance with guidelines established by the state Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) for people whose income meets regional guidelines. The development is pending final approval, Cramer said.

The 546-unit Meadows development will not front on Route 33 but will be just off the highway between Millhurst and Woodward roads, Cramer said. The development of townhouses and single-family homes is pending final approval and has no age restrictions, the planner said.