New development despite economic questions

With the economy experiencing some clear uncertainties, it isn't surprising to see some large projects being put on hold while everyone recalculates on loans and adjusts estimates on demand. For instance, East Brunswick has grand plans for its Golden Triangle, but the Toll Brothers have asked to slow down.

So, I've been surprised by two different proposals for large projects in today's paper. Are they filling a suddenly available niche? Is the demand for housing in NJ just that unstoppable? Or are they off their rockers? We'll see.

The first is a proposal for 14 glass towers on the Elizabeth waterfront. This would be in the area behind the Jersey Gardens along Newark Bay.

The project calls for a nearly mile-long wooden promenade hugging the bay's shore, with a marina for recreational boats. Then there's the hotel and charter school surrounded by restaurants and shop. Hoda sees thousands of new residents on this isolated spit of land where not so much as a shack stands today.

Dayton Village in South Brunswick is also looking at a big change, considering a proposal for a Town Center development. The planners behind the project have tried to promote the ways it will positively impact the overall community:

"When you look at Dayton, there is very little connectivity between the different sections," Constantine said. "If a kid wants to visit his friend in a different development about 100 yards away, his parents have to drive him more than a mile around in order to get there. There is no direct way."

Constantine said the suggestions include closing a portion of Culver Street to create a village green. Several existing small shopping centers would be replaced with a larger two-story building with more on-street parking. New bike paths along existing rights of way would be created and small local roads could be cut through sections of town, connecting them all.

They are holding workshops on Monday and Tuesday to generate more community input and (they anticipate) to get community buy-in.