Bridgewater Commons gets OK for games, amusement, entertainment businesses
BRIDGEWATER – When the Bridgewater Commons first opened more than three decades ago, it was a state-of-the-art mall, attracting shoppers from beyond Central Jersey.
Often called Central Jersey’s new downtown, the Commons was the location of the first Disney Store outside California. During the holiday shopping season, the roads around the mall were jammed and parking lots were overflowing. Mounted security officers rode horses in the parking lot.
Gradually shopping patterns began to evolve. Stern’s became Bloomingdales and Hahnes became Lord & Taylor. The mall continued to flourish and sometimes it was still difficult to find an empty table in the food court.
But, as on-line shopping became popular, the mall looked for other ways to attract shoppers. The Village at Bridgewater Commons officially opened in 2006, bringing stores that were in the mall building to a new location on Commons Way. Three restaurants - Cheesecake Factory, Seasons 52 and Redstone American Grill - opened on pad sites just outside the mall building.
But the retail environment continued to erode. Lord & Taylor closed and the building was used as a vaccination center during the pandemic. Crate & Barrel closed at The Village of Bridgewater Commons and will be replaced by medical offices. Vacancies within the mall, once rare, have become common.
Other malls have adapted to the changing retail scene.
Woodbridge Center, the granddaddy of Central Jersey malls, has a carousel, an aquarium, an indoor playground, All in Adventure escape rooms, an indoor gun range and Bungee Zone.
In East Brunswick, Kids Empire, with locations in Watchung, Linden and Woodbridge, has proposed an indoor playground for children 12 and under in the Mid-State Mall on Route 18. The proposal calls for a large two-story playground and a smaller "toddler" playground for toddlers and infants. Kids Empire will also be opening in the Marketplace at Manville.
To help the Bridgewater Commons, one of the largest taxpayers in the township, to attract more people, the Township Council on Monday adopted a zoning ordinance to allow establishments for games, entertainment and amusements in the mall.
That would allow popular venues such as Topgolf or Dave & Busters to locate in the mall. The ordinance says that any future establishments should not be bigger than 90,000 square feet.
For example, the size of a Dave & Busters ranges from 25,000 to 45,000 square feet and Topgolf requires 65,000 square feet.
But not all council members were happy with the ordinance.
Councilman Filipe Pedroso said he didn’t “feel comfortable” with the wording in the ordinance.
He said that some of the terms of the allowed establishments were “subject to interpretation” and that those terms should be better defined.
But Councilman Timothy Ring said the change was “important for the financial success of the mall and Bridgewater Township.”
Email: mdeak@mycentraljersey.com
Mike Deak is a reporter for mycentraljersey.com. To get unlimited access to his articles on Somerset and Hunterdon counties, please subscribe or activate your digital account.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Bridgewater Commons gets OK for amusement, entertainment businesses
