WEST WINDSOR, NJ-It took several years and a lawsuit, but the West Windsor Township Council has finally approved InterCap Holdings’ planned transit village at the Princeton Junction Train Station.
The $350 million project, being planned by Princeton, NJ-based InterCap Holdings, will include 800 condominiums and 100,000 square feet of retail on 24.4 acres on Washington Road. The project is part of the 350-acre redevelopment zone for West Windsor. “This is the smartest of smart growth,” Steven E. Goldin, Chairman & CEO of InterCap Holdings, tells GlobeSt.com
Goldin had planned the project several years ago, but a dispute over the amount of affordable housing to be included resulted in a 2009 lawsuit filed by the developer. The original concept called for some 1,000 residential units; the municipality 350 homes to avoid large numbers of new students. But such projects usually don’t attract that many families, Goldin says. “When they see how few school kids there are, they will kick themselves,” Goldin says.
The developer wanted just 5% to be affordable; the municipality much more. Through negotiations, the developer and town agreed that 702 of the units will be sold at market rate, 18 will be affordable for-sale condos and the remainder affordable rentals. “It took five years and $17 million just to get approvals,” says Goldin. The sum includes $10 million in predevelopment and $7 million in public engagement and litigation costs.
The sum is particularly critical as Goldin is determined to price the retail below market rent to attract “restaurants and unique shops,” he says. The market rate homes likely will be in the $400,000 to $500,000 range.
The project is not eligible for Urban Transit Tax Hub credits, which are geared toward larger municipalities. Also planned is a public space with softscape and hardscape to complement the green space that abounds near West Windsor. “It will be unlike anything you’ve seen before in New Jersey,” Goldin says. “My passion is to create great public spaces.”
The first phase will consist of 100 residential units and 25,000 square feet of retail. InterCap plans on selecting a privately held company to build the residential, which will sit atop the ground-level retail. The project will bring 1,500 construction jobs, Goldin says.
Other approvals now are needed for the project to proceed. InterCap Holdings will present a detailed plan for planning board approval next year, with a groundbreaking anticipated in 2013. Future phases will be drive by market demand – perhaps with a bit less drama than the future phases.
“I wake up every day knowing the sun will be shining,” Goldin says. “To me, every day is a sunny day.”
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