Hopewell Township’s Planning Board voted 6-0 on October 22 to grant final site-plan approval for a 108,000-square-foot warehouse and office building on Route 31. The speculative project has no signed tenant. Its approval sets conditions for the 12.42-acre site south of the Mavis Tire location, including requirements addressing landscaping, lighting, stormwater and fire safety.
No new traffic testimony was presented at the final hearing, according to MercerMe. Township records filed with the application identify the property as 61 Route 31 North, Block 46, Lot 12, in the Industrial/Commercial zoning district, per correspondence filed with Hopewell Township.
The board granted preliminary approval on July 23, 2026. For final review, Hopewell Solar LLC revised its architectural plans, landscaping, lighting designs, and fire-safety and stormwater responses, according to MercerMe. Project engineer Russell Smith presented a landscaping plan adding 106 white pine trees, about 14 to 16 feet tall, to the hundreds of deciduous trees and thousands of shrubs in earlier plans. The pines are concentrated along Route 31 and near the rear of the property.
Architectural Tweaks and a Still-Pending Highway Permit
Architect John Anderson presented revised renderings featuring beige, brown and muted green colors, along with architectural accents and entry canopies, while revised lighting plans were meant to address concerns raised during the preliminary approval hearings. The project requires no zoning variances, and the township's engineering review found that warehousing, manufacturing and assembly are permitted principal uses in the Industrial/Commercial district, according to the Hopewell Township engineering review.
One piece of the puzzle remains outside the township's hands. The Route 31 driveway was widened to accommodate township fire apparatus, including a tower truck, and Hopewell Solar LLC requested a waiver for driveway width through its New Jersey Department of Transportation state highway access permit application. That NJDOT approval remains pending, and per Russell Smith, the process could take another month or two before it is resolved. The township's own review confirms the driveway is subject to NJDOT review and approval, along with sign-offs or letters of no interest from the Township Health Department, the fire official, the NJDEP, the Mercer County Soil Conservation District, the Mercer County Planning Board, and the Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission.
Environmental and Infrastructure Reviews
The township engineering review cited above also lists sign-offs or letters of no interest from the Township Health Department, the fire official, NJDEP, Mercer County Soil Conservation District, Mercer County Planning Board and Delaware and Raritan Canal Commission. Separately, the Mercer County Soil Conservation District says projects proposing more than 5,000 square feet of soil disturbance must have a Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Plan certified by the district. That general requirement does not establish the status of this project’s site-specific review.
Office Space and Water Use Capped by Septic Capacity
Board attorney Trishka Waterbury Cecil confirmed that the site's daily water use is capped at 2,500 gallons because of septic capacity, and told the board that any preliminary approval conditions left unsatisfied would carry forward into final approval. Under those conditions, the property is also limited to 12,750 square feet of office space. The proposed property additionally requires further engineering for its private fire protection water system, and the plans identify fire lanes and hydrant locations on site.
Hopewell Solar LLC also agreed to add a drainage-inlet maintenance schedule as a condition of final approval. Design details reported by the outlet describe 17 loading-dock positions in the revised plan, while 28 parking spaces would initially remain unpaved — though an earlier township engineering review had described 29 loading-dock positions, two drive-in overhead doors, and 73 vehicle parking spaces including ADA and electric-vehicle spots. The two counts have not been reconciled in the available records.
No Tenants, No New Traffic Data
Hopewell Solar LLC has described the project as a speculative industrial building meant for multiple smaller businesses, and the company has identified no tenants so far. Board member Rex Parker acknowledged that uncertainty about eventual occupants during the hearing but said the approval parameters provide safeguards regardless of who eventually moves in. Applicant attorney Christopher Costa said future occupants will have to operate within the limits already built into the approved site plan, since the zoning itself restricts what uses are permitted in the building.
Russell Smith said the stormwater system was designed to meet state requirements, with runoff calculations based on the amount of paved surface rather than on any specific tenant's operations. The traffic analysis behind the approval projected 13 vehicle trips during the morning peak hour and 16 during the evening peak hour, based on standard industry trip-generation estimates rather than actual Route 31 traffic counts — and no new traffic testimony was introduced at Thursday's final hearing.
Before construction can begin, Hopewell Solar LLC must satisfy its remaining approval conditions and obtain outstanding permits, including NJDOT sign-off, while completing technical details for fire protection, stormwater maintenance and other site improvements. The property has also been marketed for sale, according to a report from Real Estate NJ.
The Hopewell approval lands amid a broader wave of industrial and flex-space development moving through Mercer County. Hillwood Development Corp. has started construction on nearly 221,000 square feet of new industrial space on a 36-acre site in Hamilton Township, according to NJ.com, while Morvay Partners has been moving ahead with two ground-up flex-industrial projects in Robbinsville and Hamilton Township while marketing the space to prospective tenants, per a separate Real Estate NJ report. Whether the Hopewell warehouse lands a buyer, a tenant, or both before breaking ground remains an open question.
