The Village at Manalapan
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The Village at Manalapan is a multi-use lifestyle center that is proposed in Manalapan, New Jersey, United States. It is opposed by some local residents due to the concern of congestion on Route 33.
The project is expected to be completed in 2007.
[edit] Features
The Village will feature a number of national and regional merchants in a traditional “downtown” area. The district will offer a variety of restaurants, cafés, national lifestyle retailers, and a selection of regional and local specialty shops and boutiques. Old-fashioned gas-style streetlamps, brick-paved sidewalks and crosswalks, landscaping, and the varied architecture of the street’s two- and three-story buildings will be included. Plans also call for a limited number of residential units to be situated above this area’s stores, providing managers and employees of The Village’s retail and restaurant establishments the ability to live on site.
There will be pedestrian walkways, bikeways and interior roads.
A traditional Town Green will be the focus of the Village. Complete with its band shell, Gazebo, children’s playground and park benches, the Town Green will be the setting for concerts, craft shows, classic car shows and other community events during warm weather months. In the winter, the Town Green’s lower seating area will be filled with water and allowed to freeze for a public outdoor skating rink. The area will also be decorated with sculptures, fountains, flags and a colorful public garden.
The Village’s public spaces will also include athletic fields and outdoor tennis courts that will be made available to local schools and recreational leagues. There are also plans to create a specially designated area for weekday commuters traveling to Manhattan, complete with a bus pick-up/drop-off area and an adjacent children’s day care/learning center. The entire facility will be well-lit, with adequate security.
[edit] Concerns
Since there are major traffic concerns for Route 33 and Millhurst Road, traffic solutions will be planned for the area around the intersection.
It is also a concern that the Village may run the nearby Freehold Raceway Mall out of business. The Freehold Raceway Mall, in turn, was responsible for running the Manalapan Mall out of business in the 1990's.
