The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
The Levin Company has resubmitted its plan to turn the former Big Kmart building into a 200-unit apartment building.
Plans were submitted to the Township on December 13.
The plans are essentially identical to a submission made in November 2021. Those plans were met with stiff opposition from Township officials and residents.
Levin wants to raze the empty structure that once encompassed the department store and a Chinese restaurant, and is still home to Venus Jewelers. Venus is moving to another site in the plaza.
In its place would go a 250,475 square-foot, four-story building holding 200 one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments.
There would be 61 one-bedroom apartments, eight affordable one-bedroom apartments, 99 two-bedroom apartments, 24 affordable two-bedroom apartments, and eight three-bedroom apartments.
The building would also feature an outdoor pool, a fitness center and a community area.
The project will need a variance from the Zoning Board of Adjustment because the plaza sits in the General Business zone which does not allow residential uses.
The project also calls for improvements to the plaza’s parking lot and refurbishment of the remaining retail center’s façade.
An interior access road that offers entry and exit onto Easton Avenue now goes straight into the lot; under the new plan, that road would be curved to the left to empty into the parking lot of the remaining retail center.
There would also be a number of “make ready” electric vehicle charging stations installed. The plan calls for 56 stations along the John F. Kennedy Boulevard side of the apartment building, three stations in front of it and another 20 stations along the Easton Avenue side of the Stop and Shop parking lot.
Representatives from Levin have said that they cannot find a retail tenant for the department store space, and that this is the only viable alternative.
In its newest application, Levin wrote, “The development works in harmony and in complete symbiosis with the surrounding neighborhood and substantially outweighs any detriment arguably created by permitting a residential use in this business district.”
“Due to weak demand for big box retail anchor space, declining tenancy after K-Mart closed, and the overall disruption occurring in the retail industry from the influence of Internet sales, conversion of the vacant and obsolete big box retail to a 200 unit amenity-centric residential apartment building is a viable solution,” the application states. “Stop & Shop is a strong supporter of this conversion, and it will also enable the leasing of vacant space elsewhere in the center.”
The plan drew sharp criticism from Township officials when it was first submitted in 2021. The main objection was the Township’s claim that it alone is responsible for zoning in Franklin, and this application would strip it of that right.
The Township Council took the extraordinary step of directing the Township attorney to appear before the Zoning Board and express the Township’s position on the application, if it was ever heard.
It’s not known when, or if, the application will be heard by the Zoning Board. It still must be reviewed for completeness and a review by Township planning professionals.
