The second key parcel targeted by redevelopment is the unfinished portion of the Ellworth’s shopping center, hidden in the rear of the existing center at the corner of Princeton-Hightstown and Cranbury roads.
Two West Windsor Council members have begun a public crusade to improve the conditions the long-deserted project, located on a keystone property in the township’s 350-acre area in need of redevelopment.
Hsueh has also spoken publicly about his desire to have the owners do more with the property. The property owner says he would like nothing more than to complete construction, but the township halted his progress.
Jacinto Rodrigues, principal for Sumo Enterprises, says he spent “a couple million dollars” and had tenants lined up for the commercial center when he bought into the project many years ago.
Construction, which began in 1988, was on track, and the shopping center on the front portion of the property was completed, when he says he was told by the township he wouldn’t be issued a certificate of occupancy (CO) unless he helped finance improvements to the intersection of Route 571, Cranbury, and Wallace roads.
He says, “I know that we tried to come up with a plan for the intersection and the widening of the road, but the town, and the county, and the state couldn’t agree on what to do. After that, we never did anything. It has always been my position that that doesn’t apply to my project anyway.”
After reading a recent newspaper article on the township’s plans to condemn the center, Rodrigues sent the township a letter. “I told them I’ll be glad to finish what I started. I have been waiting for them to give me a decision on what they want, and who is going to pay for it.”
Rodrigues says the township has sent him several letters, and he has responded to each one. “They call us when they need something with the building, and we’re there often, fixing the windows and the doors and cleaning it up.”
According to Business Administrator Christopher Marion, the lot has been the site of illegal dumping, illegal parking, and graffiti.
Robert Hary, director of the township Department of Health and Human Services, says he has repeatedly visited the site, and every time a violation was found, he notified the owner. Hary confirmed that Rodrigues has always complied. Sumo Enterprises is up to date on its taxes for the property.
Still, the town’s administration has called publicly for Rodrigues to pay more attention to the property. The lot has become “an example of urban blight,” according to councilman Franc Gambatese, who raised the issue at a council meeting on July 31.
“The owners let it rot and deteriorate. It’s dangerous, it’s ignored, the people who own it don’t care about it, or they would have done something about it. I’ve been approached by business people in the area asking for something to be done about it,” said Gambatese.
Councilwoman Barbara Pfeifer invited reporters and photographers to accompany her on a “Town Tour,” a trip through sites in the township she would like to see improved. The tour, which was to have been conducted on Thursday, August 24, included the center. Rodrigues says Pfeifer did not make him aware of the tour.
Also at the July 31 council meeting, the possibility of condemning the property through the right of eminent domain was mentioned. In this scenario the township would be required to pay the owner for the property, as much as market value, but the owner would be forced to sell if it were deemed to be in the best interest of the township.
“We are going to start planning the redevelopment this year. It’s important to use this as a vehicle for what to do as this area changes for the better. Hopefully we will be able to bring the owners along,” says Hsueh. “My last resort is to condemn the property.”
Gambatese says he and other members of council are reluctant to condemn the property, because “it would look bad, considering that it is located in the area designated for redevelopment.”
Another option, according to township attorney Michael Herbert, is to enforce a receivership of the property. In many cases a receivership would allow the township to collect any profits the owner made from the property. Since the property is generating no income, the township, if granted the receivership, could go after income Sumo Enterprises gets from other sources.
The council is expected to again address the issue at a meeting in September.
