Onyx, the new owner of the struggling Plainsboro Plaza, was scheduled to present its preliminary plans to upgrade and improve the plaza at the Plainsboro Development Review Committee meeting on Thursday, January 23. The good news was that the plans were expected to include three major upgrades. The bad news was that — prior to the meeting — there was still no indication of a tenant to replace the Superfresh food store, which closed a year ago, much to the dismay of the Plainsboro residents and township officials.
Among the upgrades, as explained by Les Varga, director of planning and zoning: First, the architecture and facade surrounding the former Superfresh location, adjacent to Schalks Corner Road, will be modernized and refurbished to more closely resemble the Plainsboro Village across the street.
Second, Onyx will be redesigning a portion of the parking lot and landscaping in the area near Romeo’s restaurant to make traffic access easier and less confusing. Finally, the company will be upgrading the signage throughout the Plaza in an effort to make the signs more attractive and easier to read.
“These plans are the culmination of Onyx’s discussions with the township regarding improvements to the Plaza,” said Varga. “After the development review committee, Onyx will present the plans to the Planning Board. They are on track with their proposed schedule for improvements to the Plaza,” he added.
Last April Onyx, along with Artemis Real Estate Partners, announced its purchase of Plainsboro Plaza from TIAA-CREFF, the institutional financial services and pension fund. The new owners recently purchased the Livingston, New Jersey, Town Center and improvements made there were encouraging to Plainsboro officials.
The 27-year-old Plainsboro Plaza, located at the intersection of Scudders Mill and Schalks Crossing roads, has lost its anchor tenants at either end of the center, and several other smaller tenants have also left, most recently Diana’s Hallmark.
