Long rumored to be coming to Robbinsville, coffee purveyor Starbucks received initial approvals last month to bring a drive-thru location to Route 33.
The township’s Technical Review Committee approved a plan Nov. 3 for a cafe and drive-thru to be located on Route 33 East across the highway from the new municipal building. The plan still needs full planning board approval, which should be coming this month. The planning board will hear the proposal at its Dec. 14 meeting.
Once approved, the building should go up quickly. The Starbucks will be on a pad site next to the newly constructed daycare center on Route 33, adjacent to Washington Liquors. The foundation for that site is already laid, Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried said.
Fried estimated the township’s Starbucks should be open before the end of 2017, perhaps even sooner.
The Starbucks is just one piece of the township’s plan to start developing what is known as “Town Center South,” the side of Route 33 across from the existing Town Center development. Fried said approvals have been out for the King and Marrazzo properties—lots near the future Starbucks—for some time. The township also has fielded frequent proposals for the Kushner Property, a 35-acre lot that starts across Route 33 from Centro Grill and stretches toward the Walgreens near the Hamilton border. Fried said the township wants to be smart about what it approves there.
“We’d like to see 33 move forward, but we’re in no rush,” Fried said.
The area of Town Center South has been declared a redevelopment zone, meaning the township has more say than usual in dictating what can be built there. It has already prevented the construction of 300 single family homes and townhouses in the zone, preserving 16 acres in the Kushner Property as open space.
For the remaining 19 acres, Fried said he’d like to see a mix of commercial development and parking to support the businesses there. The lack of parking in Town Center North, aside from causing headaches for patrons, has limited the kinds of businesses that could open there. Many large corporations take the number of parking spaces into consideration before granting franchises.
“We just don’t have that to give on the north side of Town Center,” Fried said.
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Another piece of development got the go-ahead from Robbinsville last month, this one across the township. A proposed QuickChek gas station and convenience store received planning board approval Nov. 9 for a lot next to NorthStar Vets on Robbinsville-Allentown Road. The property is bounded by—and will be visible from—the New Jersey Turnpike, Interstate 195 and Robbinsville-Allentown Road.
The approved Starbucks drive-thru on Route 33 East in Robbinsville is one part of the plan for Town Center South.,
