| NJ TRANSIT
chooses developer for “Highlands at Morristown
Station” Project
Rosewood Lafayette Commons, LLC chosen for mixed-use
development at Morristown station.
Hamilton Station redevelopment
plan moves ahead
RFP sent out for 2000-space parking deck in Hamilton
to free up land for potential development
Princeton Junction Station
Area Vision Plan
NJ TRANSIT, the Office of Smart Growth and West Windsor
collaborate on consensus-based TOD strategy for the
Princeton Junction Station in West Windsor.
Somerset County TOD plan wins
NJAPA award
Plan analyzes opportunities for transit-oriented development
in Somerset County.
 NJ
TRANSIT chooses developer for “Highlands at Morristown
Station” Project
| Construction
on a new mixed-use TOD at the Morristown rail
station is anticipated to begin this fall. After
a competitive RFP process, Rosewood Lafayette
Commons, LLC (Rosewood) was designated the developer
for the project. Rosewood proposes to develop
"The Highlands at Morristown Station"
that will consist of 218 residential units and
8,000 square feet of retail space wrapped around
three sides of a 722-space parking deck. Of these
722 spaces, 415 will be dedicated to NJ TRANSIT
commuters, an increase of 116 spaces over current
parking capacity on the site. Rosewood received
final site plan approval for the project in January
2005 and is finalizing construction documents
for the project. Since 1999, when the town council
passed the necessary zoning modifications to permit
a mixed-use transit-oriented development on the
site, Morristown and NJ TRANSIT have been collaborating
to develop this three-acre parcel owned by NJ
TRANSIT. |
Site of Future Development,
Morristown Station, NJ
|
Hamilton
Station redevelopment plan moves ahead
| Selection
of a master developer is anticipated in late 2005
for a transit-oriented development at the Hamilton
Township NJ TRANSIT Station. An RFP was sent out
in March 2005 seeking a master developer for the
site to promote smart growth principles consistent
with the vision and redevelopment plan. Several
proposals were received in July 2005 and reviewed
by an evaluation committee consisting of representatives
from Hamilton, NJ TRANSIT, New
Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA)
and the New
Jersey Office of Smart Growth. The site currently
provides 25 acres of surface parking comprising
1,926 commuter spaces. In conjunction with the
township, NJ TRANSIT recognized the potential
for transit-oriented development at the site and
developed a vision plan in 2000 which served as
the basis for the station area redevelopment plan.
In order to meet existing parking demand and to
free up land for potential development, NJ TRANSIT
will soon begin construction of a new 2,000-space
parking deck. |
Surface Parking, Hamilton Station, NJ
|
Princeton
Junction Station Area Vision Plan
|
NJ TRANSIT, the New Jersey Office
of Smart Growth and West Windsor Township completed
a Station Area Vision Plan for the Princeton Junction
Station in June 2005. Located between Alexander
Road and Route 571 in West Windsor, the station
is the second busiest in NJ TRANSIT’s commuter
rail system and is within the greater Route 1
corridor, a major regional employment hub in the
state. The primary goal of this visioning exercise
was to create a broad, consensus-based TOD strategy
that could accommodate existing and proposed transportation
functions, market realities and complement regional
and local initiatives at and around the station
along the Northeast Corridor Line.
|
Proposed Main Street looking toward Princeton
Junction Station
Source: West Windsor
Princeton Junction Station Area Plan
|
The plan calls for the development
of an incremental, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented village
centered around the train station. The key principles
of the plan include:
- a new intermodal transit plaza
- a new "Main Street" development
- the creation of nine acres of new open space
- new pedestrian linkages and increased bicycle connections
through and around the station area
- the creation of three new “districts”
in the station area
Specifically, the plan calls for the
creation of 120,000 square feet of retail space, 90,000
square feet of hotel space and 85,000 square feet of
office space. In addition, approximately 790 residential
units would be created in two major developments. The
plan specifically discusses the integration of a proposed
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) into the station area and the
preservation of the “Dinky” rail service
connecting the Princeton Junction station with Princeton
Borough and the Princeton University campus. The Township
Planning Board is reviewing the proposed boundaries
of a redevelopment area centered on the rail station.
This represents the next step in the local land use
process to determine the area in need of rehabilitation
or redevelopment and act upon the recommendations of
the vision plan. The Township and NJ TRANSIT are also
working with the Department of Transportation to advance
the design of a connector road (Vaughn Drive) in the
station area, a major infrastructure link which will
establish the grid upon which future TOD can occur.
Click here
for a link to the full document.
Somerset
County TOD Plan wins NJAPA Award
The plan “TOD Opportunities in
Somerset County, New Jersey” was awarded the New
Jersey chapter of the American Planning Association
(NJAPA) Outstanding Planning Implementation Award. This
plan, profiled in Issue
1 of Transit-Friendly
Development, was a collaborative effort led
by Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC with assistance from
Nelson/Nygaard Consulting Associates and the Alan M.
Voorhees Transportation Center (VTC) at Rutgers University.
The document presented an analysis of opportunities
for transit-oriented development in Somerset County.
In direct consultation with county residents, the team
produced station-area plans and implementation strategies
for three locations along NJ TRANSIT's Raritan Valley
Line. These conceptual visions for sites located in
Bound Brook, Branchburg and Somerville provide a guide
for municipalities to effectively implement TOD planning
at the local level, focusing particularly on design,
regulatory policy and financial strategies.
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