Business View Magazine | August 2019

303 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE AUGUST 2019 NORTH BRUNSWI CK , NEW JERSEY generated thousands of jobs. “When Johnson and Johnson put the property up for sale, the Township began discussions with New Jersey Transit, the state agency responsible for rail and bus transit in the state, to discuss the possibility of a new rail station being constructed on the site,” he explains. “NJ Transit had been attempting to find a site for a new rail station on the busy Northeast Corridor line between Princeton Junction and New Brunswick for many years, as this 13-mile gap between stations is the longest distance between rail stations on the Northeast Corridor in the state.” The contract-purchaser of the property was NBTOD Associates, an affiliate of Garden Homes and Garden Commercial Properties, national real estate development companies that own over 50,000 apartments and over 25 million square feet of nonresidential space. NBTOD Associates approached the township to rezone the property to accommodate three big box retailers. Big box retail was specifically prohibited in the Township’s zoning ordinance. Vigna continues, “The township countered by offering to rezone the property for a transit village, which would include a rail station and a bus depot for commuter bus service to New York City. The township offered to allow big box retail as an element of a transit- oriented development, only if the developer would construct traffic improvements along Route 1 that would result in future traffic congestion being much better than current conditions. The Township moved forward with a bold initiative by creating a ‘performance-based’ zoning standard that future traffic congestion at full build- out had to be 25 percent better than existing traffic congestion in order for the developer to take advantage of the transit village option.” The developer posted an escrow account and the township hired Maser Consulting P.A. to perform a $100,000 traffic study that recommended requisite improvements to meet the 25 percent traffic reduction performance standard. According to Vigna, “The recommended intersection improvements at three critical Route 1 intersections, as well as the construction of a short bypass road, cost in excess of $10 million. These improvements were much more extensive NEW JERSEY STATE HIGHWAY ROUTE #1 STORMWATER FACILITIES * LANDSCAPEWALL AND ICON SIGNAGE STORMWATER FACILITIES * STORMWATER FACILITIES * STORMWATER FACILITIES * RESTAURANT RETAIL/COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL RETAIL/ LARGERETAIL ESTABLISHMENT COMMERCIAL&/ORRESIDENTIAL RETAILING GASOLINE FACILITY BUS SHELTER FREESTANDING LARGERETAIL ESTABLISHMENT FREESTANDING 4 STY.MIXEDUSERETAIL/ RESTAURANT RETAIL/ MIXEDUSE RESTAURANT RETAIL/ 1 STY. 1 STY. 1 STY. 3-4 STY. RE OV BUS SHELTER RESTAURANT RETAIL/ 1 STY. 124ROOMHOT 6-7 STY 70,000 S.F. 8,300 S.F. RESTAURANT B-5 A-2 H-3 J-1 I-2 I-3/I-4 A-1 B-6 V-1/V B-4 K-1 K-2 B-7 B-1 B-2 MAIN STREET GRANDAVENUE GRANDAVENUE SOUTHDRIVE FRONT STREET PLAZACIRCLE 7,500 SF &/ORRESIDENTIAL EX.BILLBOARD (TOREMAIN) (MIN.15,000 S.F.GRND FLR.) LRE -136,488 S.F. PYLON SIGN (TOREMAIN) EX.BILLBOARD 152,173 S.F. BUS STOP 7,500 SF 6,400 S.F. 7,500 SF D I H G GF F B A C E