The Township Council has denied a request by Edgewood Properties for a reduction of performance guarantees associated with the future WWM Properties shopping center on Southfield Road, across from McCaffrey’s.
According to the council’s resolution, the performance guarantees are currently at 100 percent of the original amount, and approximately 80 percent of the work remains to be completed. Also according to the resolution, Edgewood Properties had posted a $259,677 bond as a performance guarantee.
Meanwhile, remediation work continues, and Edgewood is still waiting to receive a “no further action” letter from the state Department of Environmental Protection that would indicate the remediation is satisfactory and construction of the shopping center could begin.
Among the tenants expected to move into the plaza are a PNC Bank, a CVS Pharmacy, the Learning Experience daycare center, and several small retail establishments. The amended preliminary and final major site plan approval calls for the construction of five buildings with a total of 45,079 square feet — including the CVS Pharmacy, which will stand at 14,369 square feet with one drive-thru lane.
Construction at the 12-acre shopping center was halted a few years ago after the state Department of Environmental Protection found that Ford Motor Co. and its contractor, Edgewood Properties Inc., had shipped recycled concrete from the demolition of Ford’s former Edison Assembly Plant on Route 1 to various construction sites around the state, including West Windsor. Tests later found the cement to contain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
Since then, DEP has allowed WWM to cap the site, which included removing a certain amount of material and capping the site, which entails paving the roads, sidewalks, and the slabs for the buildings. Once it receives a “no further action” designation from the DEP, the township will be able to issue building permits.
