Slow going on Village site BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer MANALAPAN - Richard Brunelli, who is developing The Village at Man-alapan retail center, told the News Transcript this week that although it is taking longer than he had hoped to secure needed county and state permits, "the residents of Manalapan should keep the faith." The Village at Manal-apan is scheduled to be built on a 135-acre parcel at the corner of Route 33 west and Millhurst Road. Brunelli has already received preliminary site plan approval for his project from the Manalapan Planning Board and said he is working to secure the permits he needs to get final approval from the township. "It certainly is taking longer than we would like," said Brunelli, who said although he could not estimate when "the first shovel will go in the ground," residents should rest assured that "they are going to have their wonderful town center someday soon." The Village at Manalapan will be a 500,000-square-foot retail project. It is expected to have several areas, including a community shopping center with a supermarket and related stores; a lifestyle shopping center that has been compared to the Grove retail center in Shrewsbury; and professional office space. All access to the retail center will be from Millhurst Road. The state Depart-ment of Transportation has declined to permit access to the project from Route 33. Brunelli said he will not announce any potential tenants for The Village at Manalapan until he is able to put together a group. "We would like to announce who's coming once we have assembled a whole group. It will make it more meaningful," he said.