I understand their frustration. We were encouraging them to move in based [on the availability of these stores], and one of the things they probably thought moving in was all that stuff will be there. But it will be there now. |
It is not an option. There were no student housing dollars used towards the construction or development of the retail or of the fitness space. |
Our vision is that you'd be able to get off the train, walk down to College Avenue and catch a bus to the Douglass campus, all very easily. |
The amount of control that we have over the construction of a project varies on a case by case basis. But we do see the project every day, whether it is through weekly construction meetings or having a consultant monitor. |
The main reason why we've had such a big hand in the city's development is that we build exclusively in New Brunswick, and have been for more than 25 years. Also we've taken risks in the past, and stepped up to more challenging projects. |
There are things that you run into when developing a city that you wouldn't have in a rural area. We have to be very respectful and sensitive to the fact that these are people's livelihoods that we're dealing with. That is usually the most emotional and time-consuming aspect of this job. |
We're in the early development stages of a research tower that would house the Stem Cell Institute of New Jersey, across from the Cancer Institute. I'd say that that's definitely our most promising project not only for our city, but for New Jersey. |