The township owns the property, having acquired it in 2003 for $6.5 million to thwart a plan by Home Depot to build a nearly 105,000-sf store on the site. That plan had raised considerable opposition from nearby residents and an adjacent church. General plans for the redevelopment that have been drawn up by township planner Michael Fowler and his land use department call for a mix of residential, retail and office space, and a hotel/conference center.
"It's been more than five years since the Foodtown was taken off the tax rolls by the previous administration," says Mayor Stephen Acropolis. "Getting that property back on the tax rolls, and doing it in a way that's in the best interest of our community, has been a priority for us."
The current township council had earlier designated the property as "an area in need of redevelopment," a move that elicited more than 100 expressions of interest. The deadline for formal responses to the township's subsequent RFP was Aug. 7, and the four proposals to be unveiled this week have emerged from that process.
"When we announced that we were going to sell the property as a redevelopment site, we were confident that we would see some interest," Acropolis says. "But we didn't expect to have more than 100 different parties, 109 to be exact, contact the township.
"For five years, the township has owned the Foodtown, and it looks no different today than it did on the day we signed the contract," he says. "That's unacceptable, and that's why we are moving forward on this plan. The redevelopment process is more time-consuming than simply selling the property to the highest bidder, but this process has given us a greater say in what is built in this environmentally sensitive area, one that has frequent traffic congestion."
The unveiling of the four proposals will be followed by a vetting process by the township's land use department, with recommendations expected to come by the end of this month. Township officials say they expect to select a redeveloper by the end of the year, and to start actual redevelopment work by June 2009.
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