Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh said he will recommend Hillier Architects to be the firm that will plan West Windsor’s 350-acre redevelopment project. The decision to use Hillier will not be final until the township council votes to approve or deny the mayor’s recommendation on Monday, November 6.
Council is expected to approve the recommendation. Hsueh says his reasons for choosing Hillier, based in West Windsor on Alexander Park, are many, and that he will write a letter and make those reasons public by Monday.
A spokesperson from Hillier Architects, quoted Bob Hillier as saying, “We’re hopeful, we’re grateful to be considered, but we haven’t heard anything officially yet, so we can’t comment.”
Hsueh said although the price is not final, “Bob Hillier’s hourly rate is lower than the other companies. He gave us a pretty good price,” said Hsueh.
But Hsueh says it was not price alone that led to his recommendation. He also said all three of the planning firm finalists — selected from an initial group of 17 applicants — were “very strong companies. They all would do very well. This was one of the toughest decisions I have had to make.”
The planner will be responsible for drafting a mini-master plan for the 350-acre area around the train station. The firm is expected to take public input in charette meetings and use information from the residents to create the plan. The plan is expected to include outlines for the locations and amount of housing, retail, and parking, but will not include specific designs for the buildings. Those will be the responsibility of developers chosen to carry out the plans.
In his public presentation Hillier said his company would take nine months to hold charettes, gather information, and draft a plan for the future of the township. Once building begins, said Hillier, “depending on the economy, the plan we create, and the markets involved, we should be able to see this done in five to six years.” That is nearly half the time the other two firms, Graves and Associates from Princeton and Street-Works from White Plains, NY, imagined that the work would require.
Neither of the other companies estimated the total cost of the project for the township and its residents, but Hillier speculated it would cost $150 to $200 million. He encouraged the township to consider hiring multiple developers to create competition and a sense of urgency.
West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh released a statement on October 27 which outlined his “Guiding Principles for Redevelopment Planning.” Hsueh, a planner by profession, said he wrote the document in response to perceived misunderstandings by the community regarding the redevelopment process. “The fear, rumors, and arguments against any type of redevelopment seem to resurface time and time again,” said Hsueh.
“There are five general principles that would serve as guidelines throughout the course of the redevelopment planning, namely: transparency, equity, sustainability, capacity-based planning, and constitutional obligation,” said Hsueh, “It is important to point out that I insisted, and Council agreed, that the township adopt a ‘pay-to-play’ ordinance long before the redevelopment planning process started and this bedrock principle will be adhered to.”
According to the township’s initial timeline, the recommendation was supposed to be made no more than one month after the final public presentation. The last of the presentations was given by Hillier Architects on September 27. According to Hsueh, it was necessary to take more time to ensure that the decision was made correctly.
Hsueh says it will take time to ensure that the plan is carried out correctly, as well. “This redevelopment plan, once established and approved, will take some time to implement. Resulting development will not happen over night,” said Hsueh. “The plan becomes a mini-master plan that will guide development as it takes place in the area. I envision a phased approach where land will be reclaimed by first erecting parking garages and some retail establishments or restaurants. We need to plan the staging of this for minimum disruption to our commuters.”
Hillier said he has a personal interest in having the project lower the tax rate for its stakeholders. “What you’ll get with us is that we’re here. We can’t run away to another city if it doesn’t work.”
His goal is to provide West Windsor with a “photo op.” He said the town needs a place where residents can take outsiders to show them that this is where they live. He said the township has no center, no single identifying feature. “That is what we want to create.”
“I’m at the point in my career where I only want to do projects that are special to me,” said Hillier. “The company can run itself. I’ll be here. We’ll be at every one of these public work sessions. I’m emotionally invested in this place.”
