Work begins on new commuter parking deck BY VINCENT TODARO Staff Writer EAST BRUNSWICK - Construction is under way on the long-anticipated new commuter parking deck at the Transportation and Commerce Center (TCC). The new TCC is located on the Golden Triangle redevelopment property, but its construction is being funded by the township. The six-story garage is slated to cost $32 million, and will be paid for via parking fees collected from commuters, as well as a Payment in Lieu of Taxes program that will begin when Toll Brothers finishes construction on the residential and office portion of the Golden Triangle redevelopment, according to Township Finance Director L. Mason Neely. Construction on the deck began this week, Neely said, and it is scheduled to be substantially complete by mid-September 2008. The new TCC will provide more amenities for commuters, and increase the number of parking spaces from 1,130 to 1,681. Officials have said it will also be an attractive building and safer for commuters, also providing more protection from the elements. Toll Brothers is serving as construction manager for the project, while contracting out for the labor. The new TCC was negotiated as part of the township's sale of the Golden Triangle to Toll Brothers for more than $30 million. That deal was unanimously supported by Democrats on the Township Council at the time, but since then, Councilman David Stahl has expressed dismay with the lack of movement on the redevelopment project. Stahl opposed the start of construction on the new parking deck because he wanted to first get a timetable from Toll Brothers as to when the residential and office development will take place. The Pennsylvania-based developer is expected to build 402 housing units and an unspecified amount of office and retail space. Stahl expressed concern that the development's delay will cause a lapse in revenue paid to the township on the property, leaving the township in a budget hole and commuters possibly facing a rate hike. Stahl said the township could face a severe budget deficit in 2011 without that infusion of tax revenue from the new development. If the proposed Golden Triangle homes and businesses are not bringing the township revenue by then, Stahl said it may be wiser for the township to purchase the property back from Toll Brothers. Neely said officials do not know how long it will take to pay off the $32 million debt on the parking debt, since it will depend on changes in the bond market. "Right now there is no premium to pay to go longer," he said. Neely said the agreement for the parking deck includes a payment in lieu of taxes of $500,000 a year from the developer to the township. The idea of substituting that for actual tax payments has also drawn criticism from some. Neely noted that when the township owned the property, the businesses there paid annual rent to the township of about $500,000. That money went to the township's parking utility budget, but since Toll Brothers took ownership, the money has gone to the developer. "They agreed to replenish that money when the new development comes online," Neely said. Neely said there have been some complaints from TCC commuters who have to park at the Tower Center parking deck while the new TCC is being built. Only parkers who use daily spaces were forced to move. Those with monthly permits park in an area of the current TCC lot that did not have to be vacated. The township is paying rent of $20,000 per month to Tower Center Associates for the use of two levels of the garage during construction of the TCC deck. The two levels being rented are above the townshipowned Neilson parking deck.