By Anne Levin

A lawsuit seeking to reverse approval for the Bridge Point 8 project, a 5.5 million-square-foot warehouse and distribution center in West Windsor Township, was recently filed in Mercer County Superior Court by two Township residents. The suit against the Township, its Planning Board, the developer, and the owner of the 539-acre property has focused much attention on the massive project bordered by Quakerbridge Road, the Northeast Corridor train tracks, and Route 1.

But the Bridge Point 8 development is only one of several construction projects currently underway, or awaiting final approval, along the highway. From Princeton University’s 107-acre Lake Campus in West Windsor to the site of the demolished Sleepy Hollow Motel in Lawrence Township, there is activity up and down the heavily traveled thoroughfare. Hotels, convenience stores, retail stores, condominiums, and apartments are among the projects listed on West Windsor Township’s website and confirmed by the Township’s Land Use Manager Sam Surtees.

Plans for the Lake Campus, on a tract between Lake Carnegie and Route 1 north of Washington Road, the University’s first development in West Windsor, include housing for graduate and post-doctoral students, a racquet center with a fitness space, a softball stadium, rugby fields, a cross-country course, a central utility building, and a parking garage with more than 600 spaces. Construction is ongoing and a completion date has not been announced.

Further south on the southeast corner of Route 1 and Washington Road is the Penn’s Neck Plaza, a 33,000-square-foot retail center projected to have a gas station with a convenience store to be decided, a drive-through restaurant or possible urgent care center, and other establishments. The project will go in front of the Planning Board soon, Surtees said.

A former farm field next to the headquarters of NRG at Carnegie Center West is to be a Korman Suites extended stay hotel, recently approved by the Township’s Planning Board. Ground is scheduled to be broken this summer. Across from the

MarketFair mall, the developer Garden Homes is planning a four-phase project.

The first phase, a 123-room Elements hotel, goes in front of the Planning Board January 25. The second and fourth phases involve 656 apartments, while Phase 3 is a restaurant and 21,000 square feet of retail. “That will be several years in the making,” said Surtees.

Motorists along Route 1 have been watching the demolition of what was once the Palmer Inn, next to the Wendy’s restaurant on the south side of the road. In its place, a Wawa convenience store is going in, and a Hyatt House extended stay hotel will be built at the rear of the property.

A tractor supply establishment is planned next to the Lowe’s home improvement store on the northbound side of Route 1, along with a 128-room WoodSpring Suites, yet another extended stay hotel. A Pad site [a freestanding parcel approved for retail use] that could become home to a drive-through restaurant, urgent care medical facility, or retail establishment is also part of the tract. It has preliminary approval but has yet to be decided, Surtees said.

Next to a former BMW dealership, Toll Brothers is planning to build 347 condominiums with entrances from Route 1 and Old Meadow Road. A Candlewood Suites hotel is planned for the lot that housed the Sleepy Hollow motel for many years. No date for the start of construction has been set.

A complete list of projects located in West Windsor is available at westwindsornj.org.