The idea of a mixed-use development in the shadow of the Princeton Junction train station — talked about by urban planners, developers, and West Windsor officials and residents for decades — seemed to be on trach a week ago (U.S. 1, July 13). But then it took a step backward on July 15 when InterCap CEO Steve Goldin announced that he would pull the plug on the settlement agreement reached by the West Windsor Township Council just four days prior.
On July 11 the council narrowly approved a settlement with InterCap, which has plans to build 800 housing units and 100,000 square feet of retail space in the tract now occupied by office space at 14 Washington Road. But Goldin, citing political posturing, balked when he learned that ordinances allowing the development would not be introduced at the July 18 council meeting.
Goldin says he will request a “case management conference” to proceed with a review of the township’s redevelopment study. This will set the stage for the developer to continue the litigation by challenging the township’s designation of the 350-acre Princeton Junction train station area as “in need of redevelopment.” A rule in the developer’s favor could, in the worst case scenario, void the township’s redevelopment plan.
Nullifying the redevelopment plan would pave the way for InterCap to seek to have its previous zoning also voided. If the redevelopment plan or process is invalidated, attorney Richard J. Hoff Jr., of the Bisgaier Hoff law firm of Gibbsboro, has said in the past that the developer will re-file a previous lawsuit that challenged the old commercial zoning of the property.
