April 17 , 2007

J&J Tract Owner is Eager to Get Going

Carmen Cusido
Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK — North Brunswick TOD Associates, owner of the 212-acre former Johnson & Johnson campus along Route 1, would like to move forward with its proposal for a mixed-use community village and train station, but sessions with Planning Board officials have been postponed.

"We hope that based on a year of public workshops and discussions, that the community is ready to move forward planning the future of this project," said Jonathan Frieder, managing partner of North Brunswick TOD Associates.

The North Brunswick TOD Associates in February submitted a proposal to the Planning Board members, Township Council and others so that township officials could get acquainted with the plans before the special Planning Board meetings are to take place.

The Planning Board's information sessions, originally slated to begin this week, have been postponed. No new dates have been set.

The current proposal features a regional commuter train station, 13 mixed use retail-office-loft residential buildings; 22 mixed residential loft buildings; and 18 duplex loft buildings and a minimum 550,000 square feet of retail and commercial space.

Last year and earlier this year, North Brunswick TOD Associates hosted several meetings at the site, inviting residents to offer their comments and also hear experts talk about the proposed project.

A "transit-oriented development" (TOD) project of this magnitude could take anywhere from five to 10 years when construction starts, Frieder said.

Mayor Francis "Mac" Womack said he did not know when the Planning Board would reschedule the meetings, but he and township officials are concentrating on a meeting with representatives from the state Office of Smart Growth and state Department of Transportation.

"We are going to make a presentation on why we believe North Brunswick is an excellent location for a transit village. That's the prime focus at this point," Womack said.

North Brunswick TOD Associates is a subsidiary of Garden Commercial Properties.
Garden Properties purchased the property in 2005 after J&J's Consumer Products Co. ceased manufacturing at the site in April 2004. The company still has about 500 researchers and salespeople working on site. GAF Materials Corp. also maintains some operations on the site, which J&J opened in 1956.