Richardson's field of dreams
Developer loves village center idea but will build offices if he has to
BY CHRIS GAETANO
Staff Writer

CHRIS GAETANO Richardson Properties President Russ Richardson, seen in his office in Fresh Ponds Village, Dayton, would like to develop a village center on the neighboring tract of land that his firm owns.

Right now, it's an empty farm field in Dayton, but Russ Richardson, president of the firm Richardson Properties, sees more than that. As he drives past the nearly 50-acre tract along its Griggs Road side, he envisions apartments, restaurants, quaint coffee shops and a neighborhood drugstore, all seamlessly enmeshed in the surrounding neighborhood.

That, or a massive office building with 1,200 parking spaces.

To Richardson, the decision of what, exactly, will occupy this space is the township's call. It can either move forward on the village center concept that was presented to the Township Council two weeks ago, or it can stand by and let him build the offices the land is currently zoned for.

"There's one option that doesn't exist, and that's a no-build option," Richardson said. "Something's going there."

The site, hemmed in by Griggs Road and Routes 522 and 130, was the subject of interest during a council meeting two weeks ago when Richardson, an engineer and planner, proposed the idea for what he called a village center in South Brunswick. Essentially, the proposal would create a pedestrian-friendly Main Street with shops and apartments, along with several gathering places for public events such as a clubhouse and gazebo. The surrounding areas, which include three residential neighborhoods, would be connected to the village through a series of interconnected walkways. In an effort to keep it from becoming intrusive to the nearby neighborhoods, heavy use of landscaping buffers would be employed.

While Dayton residents would be the primary users of this development, Richardson said that he expects it to be an area-wide amenity offering small, service-oriented businesses, as opposed to big-box retail stores like Circuit City or the recently opened Target. He said he'd love to see a Starbucks, Rita's Italian Ices and service retail businesses such as tailors and cleaners.

"We're talking small businesses, we're talking things you'd find in a village," he said.

Richardson said that he intends to own, not sell, the property, and thus would decide which businesses do and do not go into the village center, though he noted that his decisions would be formed on the principles of contributing to a local neighborhood atmosphere for the area.

The apartments would primarily be rental properties, with the target demographic being young professionals recently out of school, business people on temporary assignment, and empty nesters looking to move into somewhere smaller that is close to conveniences. The apartments would be either one or two bedrooms, with the one-bedroom apartments going for about $1,500 a month and the two bedrooms about $2,000, though he said that there might also be efficiency apartments with smaller, cheaper units. He noted that there would also be, as per state law, affordable housing amounting to about 15 percent of the total units. However, he said that because the plan is still conceptual, much of the specifics are up in the air, and the details are contingent upon what the township ends up approving.

According to Richardson, the units will help South Brunswick remain competitive with respect to apartment rentals, since the current stock of rentals available in the township are old, with the most recent one, South Ridge Woods, having been built a decade ago. Richardson believes that it's time to inject some new blood into the market.

Council reservations

The plan, when presented before the council, produced a reaction that could be described, at best, as cool. Members voiced a number of reservations, including a possible influx of school-age children, noting that the village center would be right across the street from Indian Fields School. Growth and how to handle it has been a perennial concern for the school district, and the township did not let this go forgotten.

Richardson, though, said that the target markets for the apartments are people who typically do not have children - the young, the elderly and travelers. He also said that even if a couple had small children, they would probably wish to move out of an apartment by the time their child grew to school age anyway.

"Even if they're married with kids, they tend not to stay in their apartments when the kid is 5 or 6 years old. ... You're not going to get a lot of schoolchildren," Richardson said.

Another concern brought up by the council was traffic. Routes 522 and 130 are among the most heavily used roads in the township, and there were worries that more businesses and residences in that area would exacerbate congestion along both streets. Richardson, though, said that the pedestrian emphasis would work to reduce traffic, as people there could walk to just about anything they need.

And besides, he asked rhetorically, what would generate more gridlock: a village center where traffic is evenly distributed throughout the day, or a 350,000-square-foot office building that would produce rush-hour traffic with hundreds entering and exiting all at the same time? Richardson said that while he would prefer a village center developed "in harmony" with the surrounding areas, the land will be developed one way or another, be it mixed use or office-industrial.

"This is what we'll be forced to do. You get what you zoned for," Richardson said.

Another concern that was brought up is the issue of density. Richardson said that the nearby Summerfield townhouse development is already quite dense, and with three stories, it's also taller than most structures in the area. He wondered aloud where all the people worried about density were when that proposal was approved. Overall, though, he said that higher-density developments can actually work to hinder the suburban sprawl that many find objectionable.

The proposal appears similar in concept, though much smaller in scope, to a transit village project on the old Johnson & Johnson property off Route 1 in North Brunswick. Richardson believes the J&J development is not in line at all with what his vision for Dayton entails, saying it seems more like a big-box development than his own idea.

"They're using the word village rather liberally," Richardson said.

At the end of the day, Richardson would like the township to cooperate with him on the village center concept. If it does so, the first order of business will be to write an ordinance rezoning the property into an entirely new village center zone. After that, discussions about the meat and bones of the development can begin.

While Richardson said that exactly what will go into this area will depend on what the township approves, he said that South Brunswick could expect to see tax revenue amounting to some $30 million to $40 million. And if the village center doesn't get off the ground, to Richardson, there's still the office building.

"Ask yourself this on the bottom line: would you rather have a 350,000-square-foot office building or would you rather have a village center with mixed use?" Richardson asked.