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L.L. Bean will anchor new shopping center in Montgomery

A rendering of the Montgomery Promenade, which is slated to open in 2019. L.L.Bean will be the anchor store at the new development.

L.L.Bean will be the anchor store at the Montgomery Promenade, a specialty center set to open in 2019 at the intersection of Route 206 and Route 518.

The Maine-based company will occupy 17,000 square feet within the 270,000 square-foot shopping center that will also offer restaurants and entertainment. The new shopping center is owned by Madison Marquette.

Peter Tomai, Madison Marquette’s managing director for investments, spoke about the project at a recent International Council of Shopping Centers gathering in New York City.

Having a store in the Princeton market has long been a goal of L.L. Bean, representatives have said.

The new shopping center, which developers are calling a “town center,” will include 90,000 square feet of shopping, 60,000 square feet of entertainment venues, and 30,000 square feet of eateries.  The Montgomery Promenade will be located at the southwest corner of Route 206 and Route 518. It will be a single-level development with a main street boulevard and wide sidewalks.

It is not clear yet what will be done to manage traffic in an already congested area. The project was approved a decade ago and is part of a shopping complex overlay zone in Montgomery Township.

The project is being built at a time when malls and shopping centers are struggling and consumer behavior is changing.