Screenshot of Howard Hughes website about redevelopment of their American Cyanamid site property. (click to expand, via hhcwestwindsor.com)

The Howard Hughes Corporation have launched a new website to inform local residents about their ongoing plans to redevelop the American Cyanamid site in West Windsor. Last year, Howard Hughes Corp made a presentation to the West Windsor Council, in which they argued that the existing zoning for the site, which is for light industrial and commercial uses, is not suitable for current needs. They are seeking to modify the zoning to allow construction of a mixed-use development including stores and new homes.The American Cyanamid site is a fairly huge, 658 acre property on either side of Clarksville Road in West Windsor. (For travelers on Route 1, it is directly opposite the Nassau Park Pavillion mall.)

Map of American Cyanamid site, on either side of Clarksville Road in West Windsor. (via Google Maps, click to expand)

If residential uses are allowed, a pretty significant amount of housing could be added. Even at a low density of four-to-an-acre, there is potentially room for over 2,000 units. Princeton would certainly be affected, because the site lies less than a mile from the town line. This possibility is likely to set alarm bells ringing among some local residents, who see little benefit to having new residents around.

The challenge for Howard Hughes is to convince us that whatever they plan to build will be an asset for the local community. Can they bring a truly walkable and transit-oriented plan to the table (as they promise)? Or will we see something fairly mediocre and automobile-oriented, like the current Toll Brothers plan to develop the Maneely site? Done right, a redevelopment of the American Cyanamid site could offer new options for walkable living. But the suspicion is that it will just dump more cars onto Route 1. There are no concepts on the table at this point, but hopefully Howard Hughes Corp will use their new website to engage the public and get the greatest amount of feedback. You can sign up for email updates at this link.

This new website follows the appearance of another developer website earlier this month, when AvalonBay launched a site to provide information on their redevelopment of the old Princeton Hospital site. It seems we have a bit of a trend going on, with developers taking their case directly to the public via the internet.

Check out the website at: http://hhcwestwindsor.com. What do you think about the possibility of redeveloping the American Cyanamid site? What would you like to see at this location? Let us know in the comments section below.