By Kelly Heyboer and Tom Haydon/The Star-Ledger

NEW BRUNSWICK — They have long been an iconic part of Rutgers University.

The grease trucks — permanently anchored in Lot 8 off College Avenue in New Brunswick — serve deep-fried lunchtime fare that offer not only a gut-busting experience, and with enough oil to keep your car happy.

And soon they could be forced to move elsewhere, at least temporarily, to help make room for a major, $295-million development project endorsed today that will transform the center of the historic campus.

Where the much-beloved trucks will end up, though, is a question still unanswered, as the university and a key developer outlined differing visions for one of the university’s most popular, if unhealthy, dining offerings.

"It’s still early in the process," said Antonio Calcado, Rutgers vice president of university facilities and capital planning. "The trucks are part of Rutgers’ culture, but I’m not 100 percent what it will look like."

The massive project involves buying part of the New Brunswick Theological Seminary and redeveloping other university properties to build classrooms, apartments, dorms, retail space and parking lots in the center of the campus.

Involving construction over 10 acres in the center of campus, including on five acres now owned by the seminary, the development will include an academic building, 500-bed dorm for honors students, 800-bed apartment complex, 15,000-square-feet of retail space, green space and a parking deck. The seminary will also get a new academic building and housing.

The plan includes taking back Lot 8 to make way for an apartment building. During construction, the grease trucks and the sandwiches carrying names like "Fat Elvis," "Fat Sam," and "Fat KoKo" would be forced to relocate.

Calcado said the university is already coming up with a campus-wide policy that would require all mobile food vendors — including the current grease trucks — to obtain permits.

"There are going to be slots university-wide on all campuses and people will be able to bid to use those spots," he explained. "We have other vendors who want to be part of the university’s dining experience."

Both the university and the developer expect the sandwiches to return to the area where the trucks now park, but there are differing ideas as to whether the vehicles themselves will be back.

The location will be a park-like area meant to attract people and, Calcado said, there will be retail space, including food stands meant to mimic the grease trucks.

"We always intended that experience would be there," he said.

But Christopher Paladino, president of the New Brunswick Development Corp., which is partnering with Rutgers on the project, promised the trucks themselves will return, describing a space similar to Bryant Park in New York, which will incorporate a giant JumboTron video screen, seating area — and the grease trucks.







"We're not going to mess with something that is obviously working," he said. "We have every intention to put them back. It makes no sense to eliminate what is obviously part of the popular culture of Rutgers."

Paladino said the goal is to get as many people using the area as possible. "Why would I want to eliminate one of the key reason people go there?" he asked. "It’s not just sentimentality. It’s just good business sense."

Customers of the trucks today made their food preferences clear.

"You can’t fault Rutgers for expanding, but when you have something that is known nationally, you don’t want to get rid of that for another astronomy classroom," said D. J. Skopelitis, 28, a former Rutgers graduate student, as he munched on a "Fat Beach" sandwich, comprising a cheese steak with chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, lettuce, ketchup and French fries.

Skopelitis drove up from Toms River with a friend — on their day off — to eat at the grease trucks.

Cathryn Carter came with her family from North Dakota to visit relatives in New Jersey, also made the trucks a part of the trip today.

"I saw a film about them on television. I’ve been looking forward to this day," she said while sharing a "Fat Darrell" sandwich, with chicken fingers, mozzarella sticks, marinara sauce and French fries.

Abdu Elfeiki, owner of two of the trucks, had not yet heard of the building plans.

"This is horrible. This is only business we have. We have people working here 16, 17, 20 years," Elfeiki said. The trucks, he said, have an international reputation.

"We get calls from people in Israel, from New Zealand, from Canada. Last week a man came. He drove eight hours to just eat here and go back," Elfeiki said.

The project, which is expected to begin next summer, is contingent on Rutgers getting $52 million in Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits under a state program. That funding must be approved by the state Economic Development Authority.

"If that’s not successful, then there is no project," Calcado said.

Related coverage:

• Rutgers' famous grease trucks moving -- What's your favorite 'fat' sandwich?

• Rutgers University's beloved grease trucks may be forced off campus