Browntown renovations welcomed in Old Bridge
Facelift, enhancements made to circa-1960 shopping center
BY LAUREN CIRAULO Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY JEFF GRANIT staff Above, the Browntown shopping center on Route 516, Old Bridge, recently underwent a makeover with a new façade, as well as landscaping and parking lot improvements. Below, Walgreens recently moved into the location of Drug Fair in Browntown.

OLD BRIDGE — A six-year effort to renovate the Browntown shopping center has recently been completed, giving the Route 516 complex a brand-new look that has exceeded expectations.

"I'm more than impressed with what's been done with Browntown shopping center," Councilman Richard Greene said at a Township Council meeting in May. "The property needed that renovation, and it's about time."

The restoration, which began in the summer of 2008, was originally slated to involve replacing the dilapidated facades and repave the parking lot. However, several other improvements were also made, including light repair, landscaping and sidewalk repavement and access ramps.

"As Old Bridge residents visit the new Browntown shopping center, they will see a remarkable transformation," said former Old Bridge resident Michael Kaufman. A township resident from 1971 until 2005, Kaufman has advocated for the shopping center and has been considered instrumental in pushing the township and the property owners forward with the renovation process.

"As a result of some interface with Mr. Kaufman, I pressured them to get this work going," Old Bridge Zoning Officer Michael Serdinsky has said. "He has been a big help."

Built around 1960, the center is home to 21 stores, including Walgreens (formerly Drug Fair), New York Sports Club, a pizzeria, Chinese restaurant, tanning salon, laundromat, jewelry store, Subway and a Wendy's restaurant. But since then, little upkeep was performed.

"Little has been done to keep the shopping center in safe and usable condition. As a result, through the years, the parking lot became unsafe — there were potholes, cracks, fissures, broken lights and rusting facades," said Kaufman, who believed the site to be a major safety hazard. "Many have been injured because of its problems."

As a condition of a 2003 approval, the township Planning Board required the owners of the center to reface the buildings, repave, and install enclosed garbage areas. But when June 2006, the scheduled date of completion for the façade work, came and went, the faded signage and weathered asphalt still remained.

The previous owner, Saul Kanter, agreed to do the work, as did the center's current owners, Brown Mill LLC. However, the burden of renewal ultimately fell upon the center's latest owners, The Lightstone Group, which completed the multimillion dollar renovation.

Kaufman wrote letters to Serdinsky and Township Planner James Cleary hoping to jumpstart the improvements soon after he moved from Old Bridge to an adult community in Jackson.

"I reached out to the town, even thought I'm no longer a resident," he said. "I was genuinely concerned and will always care about Old Bridge. I wanted to see what could be done."

After two years of diligently fighting for a renovation, the township took notice of Kaufman's involvement and responded accordingly.

But this won't be the last shopping center to undergo a series of improvements. Kaufman said that Browntown's transformation has influenced neighboring complexes, most notably the Bilow shopping center.

The local crusader also felt that the shopping center is likely to become a redeeming economic force in the township.

"It is my sincere and humble belief that this improvement will add tremendously to economic development and encourage many Old Bridge residents and residents of surrounding areas to shop there," Kaufman said.

The Lightstone Group recently signed 7-Eleven to lease a 2,500- square-foot store at Browntown.

"Visitors to other retail tenants at the center will appreciate the convenience of this 7-Eleven, which will increase overall traffic and time spent at this shopping destination," Jeffrey Dash, vice president of leasing for The Lightstone Group, said in a recent press release.

Kaufman has been pursuing the planning of a grand reopening for Browntown, but he said economic conditions have stalled this celebration. In the meantime, he will continue working to convince the township to install a stop sign on the Throckmorton Lane service road at Route 9 south.

"So far, not much has been done, but I'm confident I'll be successful in my quest," he said.