Updated: 17 hours ago
By Barbara A. Preston | May 5, 2026
E. Kahn Development (EKD), the new owner of the former Kenvue campus in Skillman, held a neighborhood meeting at the Princeton Elks Lodge on Wednesday, April 29, in which he gave an update on the status of his plans, and asked 15 neighbors what they would like to see on the property.
Originally, Kahn said he planned to build an industrial complex on the site, which is located on Grandview Road near County Route 601. Johnson & Johnson once used the site to manufacture disposable diapers. The zoning is still Limited Manufacturing (LM) allowing for office buildings, farms, research labs, and light manufacturing in enclosed buildings that would not produce significant noise, odor, dust, or hazardous waste. Housing is not permitted on the property, and would require a zoning change.
Township officials requested in 2024 that EKD nix the LM plan, and instead look to build an all-residential plan of 417 units, including 70 affordable units, he said. After spending some $500,000 on developing the housing plan, Kahn said, Montgomery officials abruptly abandoned the high-density residential proposal for the site that was meant to satisfy the state’s Round 4 affordable housing mandate. A public outcry regarding the proposed high density development motivated the township's pivot.
Kahn says he submitted a fully-engineered "by-right" industrial development plan to the Montgomery Township Planning office, and expects it to be heard by the Planning Board soon. As of May 5, Township Planner Lori Savon told The Montgomery News that Kahn's plan is "incomplete" and a hearing will not be scheduled until it's complete.
Kahn is simultaneously seeking community support for a less dense, mixed-use residential alternative. He has owned the property since December 2025, and he said Kenvue is currently leasing back the existing South Building until the end of 2026 before fully relocating.
Bob and Diane Talarick of Grandview Road live adjacent to Kenvue. They said they object to "anything that has to do with housing being put on the [Kenvue] property."
"I’d rather stay with the way it’s zoned," Diane said. “Leave this side of town alone. Put the housing where the public transportation and shopping is."
Some neighbors said placing housing on the Kenvue property would create a "Pike Run on Grandview Road.” Pike Run is a high density housing development off Route 206 in the northern section of town.
Another resident, Jiying “Peter” Li of Grandview Road, supported the mixed use plan.
"I hated the 417-unit plan," Li told Kahn at the meeting. "If it were between that and the by-right [limited manufacturing] plan, I would go with the by right because it has a 20-year build out and who knows what will happen in 20 years. Maybe your company [EKD] will not even exist, or maybe we will not need manufacturing any more. However, comparing [the limited manufacturing(LM)] to a mixed-use with 206 homes, I would rather go with plan allowing for 206 homes. Why? Because, there is uncertainty in the by right plan."
Neighbors would not know exactly what types of manufacturing would happen on the site, or when, he said.
Peter Li said during the meeting that people in town are saying the Kenvue property is contaminated.
Kahn responded, “Whatever you're hearing, it's completely false. You can go on the DEP website and see that Kenvue had done a lot of testing. We've also done a lot of testing. There is zero contamination on this property."
Li countered: "You mean there's zero contamination now, but what about the history."
Kahn said: "During the testing, what we do is we do an examination of the past. When you buy a property, you are examining what has happened in the past. There is no historical contamination on this property... There is zero issue with environmental contamination on this property. Zero. One thing came up during our due diligence because the north side of the property, which is in mountain residential and R5, is that it had never been tested. It was historically agricultural. So we went through the DEP standard testing procedures for pesticides. So we got through that and had no issues on the lots."
Li said: "They manufactured diapers in there years ago and that contaminated the underground water. So that's what we heard."
Khan said: “No, sir. First of all, we wouldn't have bought the property if the property were contaminated. There are no environmental issues that prohibit any kind of future development on the property.”
Kahn said: With no official direction from the township since mid-2025, EKD spent a fair amount of money to prepare and submit a fully compliant industrial plan, which adheres to the property’s current limited manufacturing (LM) zoning.
The submitted industrial plan includes:
New Buildings: Nine new multi-tenant industrial/manufacturing buildings, ranging from 35,000 to over 100,000 square feet, for a total of about 750,000 square feet of new construction.
Existing Structures: The existing 450,000-square-foot South building, described as the "crown jewel" of the property due to its institutional quality, will be renovated and retained, while the former IM Pei office building (North Building) will be demolished.
Traffic and Timeline: This development is expected to generate 300 to 400 truck trips a day when fully developed, though overall vehicular traffic would be substantially less than when the campus was fully occupied. The ultimate buildout is estimated to take 15 to 20 years.
EKD is currently litigating against the Planning Board, which refused to consider the developer's General Development Plan (GDP) application in late 2025, claiming the township has no GDP ordinance.
Advertisement
In response to community feedback, EKD developed a mixed-use concept that is not currently permitted by the property's zoning but may be preferred by some neighbors. This concept features:
Residential Component: 206 single-family detached homes on approximately quarter-acre lots (a reduction from the abandoned 417-unit plan), with no affordable units. These homes are projected to sell for between $800,000 and $1.2 million.
Industrial Component: The existing South Building would be preserved and repurposed for light manufacturing.
Open Space: The entire 125-acre north side of Grandview Road and about 40 acres within the development would be dedicated as open space.
Tax Revenue: The developer noted the financial advantages of this plan, stating the residential component could be absorbed in three years and generate an estimated $4 million a year in future taxes, dramatically faster than the 15-to-20-year timeline of the industrial plan, and also more than the $1.4 million annual taxes Kenvue paid on the property.
EKD representatives confirmed that they have filed a tax appeal and expect the property's taxes to drop by 50% to 70% temporarily due to the loss of value as a corporate office asset.
EKD encouraged residents to attend upcoming Planning Board meetings, as they are scheduled.
"In the past, the meetings have been dominated by people who hated the 417-unit plan, and hate the by-right plan," Kahn said. "We’re kinda standing here shrugging our shoulders going, well, okay, what do you want? This isn’t going to stay the same. Kenvue’s leaving."
