Village developer wants to get going
Seeks cooperation from town on several aspects of Route 33 proposal
BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

The developer of The Village at Man-alapan retail-entertainment-residential project at Route 33 and Millhurst Road, Manalapan, wants to get the project off the drawing board.

To do that, he will need some cooperation from municipal officials.

Richard J. Brunelli, president of R.J. Brunelli and Co., is quoted in a 2004 year-end review of the firm’s activity as saying, “We look for even better things in 2005, as we ... go forward with leasing on The Village at Manalapan, a planned mixed-use, town center on Route 33 in western Monmouth County. Initial phases of The Village are expected to open during 2006, including portions of the 135-acre property’s lifestyle center, neighborhood center, dining/entertainment component and downtown area.”

A sign posted at the site asks people seeking leasing information to contact Brunelli’s firm.

No municipal approvals have been granted for The Village.

Brunelli appeared at the Township Committee’s Feb. 9 meeting to provide municipal officials with his latest plans for the project.

Manalapan Mayor William Scherer said that he, Committeeman Andrew Lucas, Township Attorney Stuart Moskovitz and Township Administrator Alayne Shepler met with representatives of the development group on Feb. 4. The mayor said the participants at the meeting shared ideas and plans for the development of the former Probasco farm, and some questions and responses were exchanged.

Scherer said he thought it would be prudent to have a public meeting so that everyone knows what is happening.

“They’re going to need some variances from us and some zoning changes from this committee before they even go to the Planning Board,” Scherer said at the Feb. 9 meeting. “They want to get some feedback from us before they incur the costs of going forward.”

Attorney John Giunco is representing Brunelli and said one of the sticking points remains a lack of access to the project from Route 33. At this point the only access to the development site would be from Millhurst Road.

Route 33, a state highway, is a limited access highway in the area of the development site.

Giunco said a request was made to the state Department of Transportation to change the highway to a level of access that would permit driveways from Route 33.

“The DOT has found it acceptable and has declared it complete and has asked for a response from Manalapan and Mon-mouth County, ” the attorney said. “We are asking the committee to endorse that application.”

“We don’t have a project without Route 33 access,” Brunelli said.

Giunco said the developer is seeking permission to have a mixed-use development, an expansion of the permitted uses for a movie theater, a performing arts theater and associated studios. He is also asking for permission to have a hotel and a height extension for the hotel from 50 feet to 65 feet. The hotel would have 128 rooms with parking beneath it.

He also asked the members of the committee to consider a height increase from 50 feet to 55 feet for a proposed department store and an expansion to the home design center. A request is also being made to allow more square footage to be developed on the site than is available through the current zoning regulations, Giunco said.

Brunelli said he “wants to do the project right.” He showed the committee aerial photographs of the parcel indicating the location of the proposed town square and a wooded area.

“Immediately to the west we have Hovnanian’s Four Seasons development with 694 units and The Meadows with 529 units and across the street is the Battleground project with 520 units,” Brunelli said. “That adds up to about 2,000 residential units. Figuring about three people per unit that’s about 6,000 people within walking or bicycling distance of The Village.”

Brunelli said walking and bicycling would be encouraged and bike racks would be available at the project site.

“The latest plan would have a 140,000-square-foot lifestyle center with a tenant mix of upscale retailers like Ann Taylor, Chicos, Borders books, Crate and Barrel and others,” he said.

Behind the lifestyle center is the Main Street area, which may be called Broadway. Plans show a 70,000-square-foot area similar to downtown Red Bank or Princeton with restaurants, cafés, specialty shops and boutiques. There will be benches and landscaping with trees.

Brunelli is proposing to build about 70 residential units (approximately 1,000 square feet each) above the stores. Underground parking would be provided for the residents.

The community shopping center as envisioned will have a major supermarket, a two-story department store and one or two sub-anchors in a 318,000-square-foot center. The shopping center would share a parking area with the Main Street tenants. A bank, a coffee shop and a dry cleaner are envisioned for this area.

Brunelli said this section of The Village would basically be for nearby residents who have limited shopping options in the immediate area at the present time.

“We hope to have a great steak house, a family oriented restaurant and a bistro,” he told municipal officials.

He said there will be a band shell for entertainment and an area in front of the band shell where people can sit. There will also be a playground.

“The area in front of the band shell will be graded so we can put water in it in the winter,” said Brunelli. “When it freezes over there can be a nice ice skating rink.”

Brunelli said the hotel will have catering halls, conference rooms and an underground parking garage.

Plans for The Village also call for a tennis complex, baseball fields, soccer fields, a medical office building, two residential buildings with about 70 units, a 50,000-square-foot health club, a children’s day care center, public rest rooms, parking and a bus stop.

A 91,000-square-foot home design center would contain a mix of upscale retailers specializing in furniture, flooring, cabinetry, high-end kitchen appliances and other home improvement products, according to the developer.

There will also be an entertainment/recreation area with a multiplex theater, a 15,000-square-foot performing arts center, small shops, galleries and dance, music and/or art schools.

“The (150-seat) performing arts center is a proposal,” said Giunco. “In the event we are permitted to make the theaters, Rich and his partners are prepared to dedicate or donate to the Monmouth Council of Performing Arts the site, which would be improved basically by a path around it. They have agreed to commit up to $5 million to construct a performing arts center which has a theater in it and studios and the art galleries around it.”

Giunco said private security personnel would patrol the movie theaters.

Committeewoman Rebecca Aaronson said the idea behind this center evolved because residents on the south side of Manalapan needed a place to shop.

“I’d rather see more emphasis on that,” she said.

Scherer said people are also looking for a community pool and asked if a teen center could be worked into the plan.