Themes in our Practice
Below are some examples of how you might highlight some of the values in your planning work -- walkability, mixed-use, retrofitting suburbs, improving downtowns, etc. But it's easy to remove this section if you don't want to include it.
RETROFITTING THE SUBURBS FOR PLACE-MAKING AND WALKABILITY
In downtown Highlands, on Sandy Hook Bay and the Shrewsbury River, nearly the entire zone lies within the FEMA AE flood zone, and reinvestment and new construction has lagged since Hurricane Sandy. Phillips Preiss prepared an entirely new regulatory approach to downtown Highlands, replacing existing zoning with a Redevelopment Plan and a series of bonus height overlays. As part of the new approach, Phillips Preiss devised a two-tiered bonus program that awards higher heights in exchange for features that contribute to active, inviting, downtown-style streetscapes, including attractive, landscaped front “pocket parks” or plazas to create “breathing room” along the narrow, constrained Bay Avenue sidewalks and active uses on a floodproofed “Lowest Floor” – either the ground floor or the second floor. The plan was well received and unanimously approved in May 2022.
Over the course of a decade, Phillips Preiss has helped the Township of Plainsboro convert a former industrial property into a world class health care-oriented mixed-use campus. Phillips Preiss' redevelopment plan sets forth a detailed regulatory framework and design guidelines. Beyond medical offices and facilities, the redevelopment will include a day care center and age-restricted and other residential health care facilities. Walking paths, open spaces, water features, a green corridor and other common design elements will ensure that physical linkages between the various uses are provided. The plan creates an attractive and engaging outdoor environment that is beneficial to the health and well-being not just of patients, but also of doctors, employees, visitors and other members of the community.
Creating Mixed-Use Communities to Live, Work, and Play
In downtown Highlands, on Sandy Hook Bay and the Shrewsbury River, nearly the entire zone lies within the FEMA AE flood zone, and reinvestment and new construction has lagged since Hurricane Sandy. Phillips Preiss prepared an entirely new regulatory approach to downtown Highlands, replacing existing zoning with a Redevelopment Plan and a series of bonus height overlays. As part of the new approach, Phillips Preiss devised a two-tiered bonus program that awards higher heights in exchange for features that contribute to active, inviting, downtown-style streetscapes, including attractive, landscaped front “pocket parks” or plazas to create “breathing room” along the narrow, constrained Bay Avenue sidewalks and active uses on a floodproofed “Lowest Floor” – either the ground floor or the second floor. The plan was well received and unanimously approved in May 2022.
Phillips Preiss worked with the Morris Township Planning Board to plan the redevelopment of the 147-acre former Honeywell International Inc. corporate campus. The work included amending the Land Use Plan Element of the Master Plan to create a new Office and Research Laboratory/Planned Unit Development (OL-40/PUD) designation. The PUD permits a mix of office, laboratory and townhouse uses subject to a series of development standards and contingent upon the submission of a general development plan.
Phillips Preiss has provided planning services including fiscal and community impact analyses to Rockefeller Group with regard to its master planned redevelopment of a 268-acre former Exxon-Mobil corporate campus site in Florham Park known as The Green at Florham Park. The development is now home to the BASF North American Headquarters, Summit Medical Group, and The New York JETS . The Green at Florham Park is also the future home of AVE Florham Park, which provides 256 corporate suites, The Archer Hotel, a sophisticated 161-key boutique hotel, Summit Medical Group / MD Anderson Cancer Center, providing world class cancer care, and a residential community.
