Tices Retail Center Approved

A proposed shopping center to be built on Tices Lane received preliminary and final site plan approval by the township Planning Board, Thursday.

According to plans on file at the Planning Department, Tices Lane Developers of Short Hills wants to subdivide a 32.9-acre lot in an Industrial Manufacturing zone and will build an approximately 220,000-square-foot three-building retail center on a 25.14 portion of the property. There are four existing buildings on the site – also known as the old Hostess Bakery site.

The site, 110 Tices Lane, is located west of the Route 18 intersection and west of the nearby connector road, which runs behind an existing retail center where Dick’s Sporting Goods, T.J. Max and Kohl’s are located. The Crosspoint development, apartments and single-family homes are just north and north west of the site. The plans call for the construction of three buildings, a structure with a 142,190 square-foot first floor with a 10,000 mezzanine, a 40,872-square-foot one-story building and a 27,600-square-foot one-story building.

The developer is proposing to build an internal loop road around the development, beginning at an entrance across the street from Rene Road and looping around the new construction to a road between the existing Kohl’s building and the former site of Linens & Things, where traffic would be able to exit onto Route 18.

Bill Lothian, speaking for Tices Developers, said shoppers using the Kohl’s mall would be allowed to exit the center to west bound Tices Lane through the new development and loop road, rather than waiting at an existing, unsignalized intersection at Tices, just west of Route 18. That exit typically gets backed up as cars jockey for position to leave.

Plans presented Thursday called for closing of the existing Connector Road behind Dick’s. Instead, travelers will use the yet to be built road at the Intersection of Rene Road to access the Kohl’s shopping center. In addition, a traffic light may be required at the intersection of the new road and the entrance to the Kohl’s parking lot.

The developer is required to provide 1,103 parking spots, but is seeking a variance to build 1,010. On Thursday, the developer announced that it is now proposing 904 spots because of small changes to the parking area requested by the township. However, representatives said those spots could be moved elsewhere in the complex as construction begins.