Jones Lang LaSalle
Lawrence development boom nears
Monday, May 22, 2006
By JOYCE J. PERSICO
Staff Writer
LAWRENCE -- Take a drive along the 5-mile stretch of Route 1 that knifes through this township between Trenton and West Windsor and you'll see what one real estate analyst calls a community "about to explode and come into its own."
With a bundle of building proposals -- including a major expansion of the Quaker Bridge Mall that will include upscale retailers Neiman Marcus, Nordstom and 100 new stores, and the $10 million Heritage Village development at the old Trent Motel site -- Lawrence will see at least part of its sleepy, suburban image replaced with a dramatic, livelier one.
"Lawrence is exploding and coming into its own," said Ted Kraus, a retail analyst and real estate broker.
"Houses have appreciated 20 to 30 percent in the last few years. Wal-Mart on Route 130 in Hamilton has had no effect on Route 1 because the market is growing faster than the retailers."
Though much of the development planned along Route 1 is in the preliminary stages, the next few years will see noticeable changes, beginning with the just-announced expansion of the Quaker Bridge Mall by the spring of 2010.
Lawrence Mayor Michael Powers told a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting that the mall's owners, the Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. and Kravco Simon Co., are aware of "the need to update" the existing facility.
"This was one of the first indoor malls when it was built," Powers added, "and the township's master plan will have to be amended for its major expansion."
The township planning board will be given a presentation of the expansion plans on June 19. The expansion to 1.75 million square feet would mean a 59 percent increase in the mall's size.
Some existing parking places would be eliminated and a parking garage will be added, according to Powers.
There is added speculation the mall owners want to spruce up the place before the 653-acre former Wyeth tract at the intersection of Route 1 and Quakerbridge Road in neighboring West Windsor is developed into a high-end mix of luxury residences and high-end shopping.
An $830,000 state improvement project along Route 1 between Quakerbridge Road and the Nassau Park shopping center eventually will help solve existing traffic problems. Future plans call for a new access road to be built around businesses on the southbound side of Route 1 from Interstate 95 to the Mercer Mall.
Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, while welcoming growth, sees it from another angle -- the price of improving public roadways to accommodate new retailers' needs.
"We talked to both developers about the Quaker Bridge Mall and the other one potentially thinking about the other side of Quakerbridge Road -- the Wyeth Tract," Hughes explained.
"We have a compelling interest in Route 1. We want the ratables but don't want to tie up traffic.
"We have to make sure developers participate in the needs involved with Quakerbridge Road and that we have developers' contributions to this."
Hughes said the county is "in the midst of being strained on the transportation trust fund money."
"How much is going to the state and how much is going to the new bond issue for the county? We can't take on a multimillion-dollar project for the benefit of developers."
Farther south on Route 1, Lawrence is looking at late 2007 as completion date for its $10 million Heritage Village at Lawrence, a three-story combination of retail space and housing totaling 79,103 square feet.
The development of Heritage Village at Lawrence on 2.38 acres at the corner of Route 1 and Cherry Tree Lane only has "preliminary site approval," said township engineer and secretary to the planning board Chris Budzinski.
Sixty-four units, including 54 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom apartments, will fill the second and third story of the building, whose ground floor will accommodate 12 retail units at the site that formerly held the crime-ridden Trent Motel, Mason's Garage and a residential dwelling.
Though storage tanks have been removed from the Mason's site, Powers noted there are still "environmental issues" to be addressed because of the site's former use. The township of Manalapan is supplying $1.8 million of the cost "so they can get credit for affordable housing," said Powers.
One of the first visible changes on Route 1 south will involve the recently refurbished Mercer Mall, a 31-year-old outdoor shopping center totaling 493,000 square feet that just finished a $25 million renovation giving storefronts a southwest-looking facade.
Sitting on a Route 1 parcel that was once the New York Deli is the construction site of Champps Americana, a national chain whose other New Jersey locations are Edison's Menlo Park Mall and on Route 73 in Marlton.
According to Budzinski, Champps is "waiting to engage a contractor."
Though not directly on Route 1, two more restaurants -- the national chain Cheeburger Cheeburger and the small Camille's Sidewalk Cafe -- will join Tobacco Leaf tobacco shop and an office in taking over most of the former Wiz site alongside Olive Garden, also on the perimeter of the Mercer Mall. The burger restaurant is expected to open at the end of this month.
Continuing south on Route 1, the empty corner site of a former gas station at the intersection of Route 1 and Whitehead Road will become a Dunkin' Donuts location once the state decides what to do with plans for a "roundabout," said Powers.
Budzinski said Dunkin' Donuts "does have approval and we are waiting to finalize plans for conformance. A possible roundabout is one of issues." He said there will be no drive-through window at the site, which he estimated has been vacant 15 years.
But Lawrence isn't welcoming just any business with open arms, as evidenced by a letter sent by Powers and the township manager, Richard S. Krawczun, to the New Jersey State Health Planning Board opposing a hospital in the township proposed by Trenton's Capital Health System.
Despite the township's burst of growth, Kraus doesn't see it becoming overdeveloped any time soon.
"Retail areas are only overbuilt when retailers don't want to come in and sales aren't there," he noted.
Contact Joyce J. Persico at jpersico@njtimes.com or at (609) 989-5662.
© 2006 The Times of Trenton
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
Lawrence development boom nears
Monday, May 22, 2006
By JOYCE J. PERSICO
Staff Writer
LAWRENCE -- Take a drive along the 5-mile stretch of Route 1 that knifes through this township between Trenton and West Windsor and you'll see what one real estate analyst calls a community "about to explode and come into its own."
With a bundle of building proposals -- including a major expansion of the Quaker Bridge Mall that will include upscale retailers Neiman Marcus, Nordstom and 100 new stores, and the $10 million Heritage Village development at the old Trent Motel site -- Lawrence will see at least part of its sleepy, suburban image replaced with a dramatic, livelier one.
"Lawrence is exploding and coming into its own," said Ted Kraus, a retail analyst and real estate broker.
"Houses have appreciated 20 to 30 percent in the last few years. Wal-Mart on Route 130 in Hamilton has had no effect on Route 1 because the market is growing faster than the retailers."
Though much of the development planned along Route 1 is in the preliminary stages, the next few years will see noticeable changes, beginning with the just-announced expansion of the Quaker Bridge Mall by the spring of 2010.
Lawrence Mayor Michael Powers told a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting that the mall's owners, the Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group Inc. and Kravco Simon Co., are aware of "the need to update" the existing facility.
"This was one of the first indoor malls when it was built," Powers added, "and the township's master plan will have to be amended for its major expansion."
The township planning board will be given a presentation of the expansion plans on June 19. The expansion to 1.75 million square feet would mean a 59 percent increase in the mall's size.
Some existing parking places would be eliminated and a parking garage will be added, according to Powers.
There is added speculation the mall owners want to spruce up the place before the 653-acre former Wyeth tract at the intersection of Route 1 and Quakerbridge Road in neighboring West Windsor is developed into a high-end mix of luxury residences and high-end shopping.
An $830,000 state improvement project along Route 1 between Quakerbridge Road and the Nassau Park shopping center eventually will help solve existing traffic problems. Future plans call for a new access road to be built around businesses on the southbound side of Route 1 from Interstate 95 to the Mercer Mall.
Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, while welcoming growth, sees it from another angle -- the price of improving public roadways to accommodate new retailers' needs.
"We talked to both developers about the Quaker Bridge Mall and the other one potentially thinking about the other side of Quakerbridge Road -- the Wyeth Tract," Hughes explained.
"We have a compelling interest in Route 1. We want the ratables but don't want to tie up traffic.
"We have to make sure developers participate in the needs involved with Quakerbridge Road and that we have developers' contributions to this."
Hughes said the county is "in the midst of being strained on the transportation trust fund money."
"How much is going to the state and how much is going to the new bond issue for the county? We can't take on a multimillion-dollar project for the benefit of developers."
Farther south on Route 1, Lawrence is looking at late 2007 as completion date for its $10 million Heritage Village at Lawrence, a three-story combination of retail space and housing totaling 79,103 square feet.
The development of Heritage Village at Lawrence on 2.38 acres at the corner of Route 1 and Cherry Tree Lane only has "preliminary site approval," said township engineer and secretary to the planning board Chris Budzinski.
Sixty-four units, including 54 one-bedroom and 10 two-bedroom apartments, will fill the second and third story of the building, whose ground floor will accommodate 12 retail units at the site that formerly held the crime-ridden Trent Motel, Mason's Garage and a residential dwelling.
Though storage tanks have been removed from the Mason's site, Powers noted there are still "environmental issues" to be addressed because of the site's former use. The township of Manalapan is supplying $1.8 million of the cost "so they can get credit for affordable housing," said Powers.
One of the first visible changes on Route 1 south will involve the recently refurbished Mercer Mall, a 31-year-old outdoor shopping center totaling 493,000 square feet that just finished a $25 million renovation giving storefronts a southwest-looking facade.
Sitting on a Route 1 parcel that was once the New York Deli is the construction site of Champps Americana, a national chain whose other New Jersey locations are Edison's Menlo Park Mall and on Route 73 in Marlton.
According to Budzinski, Champps is "waiting to engage a contractor."
Though not directly on Route 1, two more restaurants -- the national chain Cheeburger Cheeburger and the small Camille's Sidewalk Cafe -- will join Tobacco Leaf tobacco shop and an office in taking over most of the former Wiz site alongside Olive Garden, also on the perimeter of the Mercer Mall. The burger restaurant is expected to open at the end of this month.
Continuing south on Route 1, the empty corner site of a former gas station at the intersection of Route 1 and Whitehead Road will become a Dunkin' Donuts location once the state decides what to do with plans for a "roundabout," said Powers.
Budzinski said Dunkin' Donuts "does have approval and we are waiting to finalize plans for conformance. A possible roundabout is one of issues." He said there will be no drive-through window at the site, which he estimated has been vacant 15 years.
But Lawrence isn't welcoming just any business with open arms, as evidenced by a letter sent by Powers and the township manager, Richard S. Krawczun, to the New Jersey State Health Planning Board opposing a hospital in the township proposed by Trenton's Capital Health System.
Despite the township's burst of growth, Kraus doesn't see it becoming overdeveloped any time soon.
"Retail areas are only overbuilt when retailers don't want to come in and sales aren't there," he noted.
Contact Joyce J. Persico at jpersico@njtimes.com or at (609) 989-5662.
© 2006 The Times of Trenton
© 2006 NJ.com All Rights Reserved.
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