Shopping, homes eyed for Camden Waterfront

CAMDEN – A developer has proposed building a massive complex on the city’s Waterfront, with more than 400,000 square feet of commercial space, about 1,600 homes and a 140-room hotel.

The project, still in an early stage, is being considered for a site north of the Adventure Aquarium, according to the state Economic Development Authority.

The property has been the focus of development efforts since 2003 by the aquarium’s owner, Ohio-based Steiner + Associates.

The EDA’s board voted Thursday to extend a financial deadline on its development agreement with a Steiner affiliate, Camden Town Center LLC. That will allow talks to continue between the Steiner affiliate and the unnamed developer.

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Also Thursday, the board approved almost $1 million in cleanup funds for a site expected to hold a hotel and restaurant off Route 73 in Pennsauken. It also approved delays for plans to move Subaru of America’s headquarters from Cherry Hill to Camden and to develop a gym and Walmart in Mount Laurel.

Barry Rosenberg, a Steiner representative, called the potential Waterfront project “an exciting opportunity,” but also “a complex transaction.”

“We’re still actively in negotiations with what we’ve been working on with the EDA,” the president of Steiner Investments told the Courier-Post on Thursday. “We’re still working on it. We still believe we’ll be able to put this thing together.”

According to the EDA, the unnamed national developer met with its staff in May and laid out a “preliminary vision” to develop 418,250 square feet of retail, office and flex space. The project also would hold 1,638 residential units and a hotel.

“This type of project proves that Camden is a smart investment and is ready for the next phase of its revitalization,” said Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli. He noted the city also is benefiting from more than $800 million in state tax incentives for Subaru and other companies locating there.

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“It is important to remember that what is good for Camden City is good for Camden County,” Cappelli said. “These private investments in Camden will increase the number of residents throughout our county, increase real estate values and increase tax ratables.”

Part of the Waterfront project would be on land once intended to hold a tram across the Delaware River, a project that never reached fruition.

The EDA extended until at least Nov. 30 a financial deadline that would have otherwise occurred at the end of this month.

Separately, the board approved $960,756 to offset costs of a $1.2 million brownfields cleanup off Route 73 in Pennsauken.

Pennview Partners LLC wants to develop a 125-room hotel, a 145-seat restaurant and an 85,000-square-foot self-storage facility at the site between Route 130 and Remington Avenue, according to the EDA.

The project is expected to create about 75 full-time jobs at the three business and 50 construction jobs.

The EDA said Pennview has a purchase agreement with DC Properties, a firm that operates nine Value Place Hotels, and has secured “all needed permits and approvals” for the project.

A Pennview representative could not be reached.

The EDA also extended the completion date for Subaru’s project to December 2018, one year behind the initial date. That’s also when Subaru will start to receive $118 million in tax credits for a planned headquarters and service engineering center.

The project has fallen behind schedule due to delays in acquiring parcels for the service engineering center and “possible environmental remediation,” the EDA said.

Subaru still expects to begin occupying the building between the first and third quarters of 2017, said company spokesman Michael McHale. “This is just a prudent move on our part,” he said of the extended completion date.

The authority also gave Mount Laurel Development LLC until year-end 2015 to submit required documents for an Economic Redevelopment and Growth grant. The firm is seeking $10.8 million toward the estimated $54 million cost of a commercial and retail complex at Route 73 and Fellowship Road.

The 40-acre site will hold a 102,442-square-foot gym, operated by Lifetime Fitness. The project also is expected to hold a Walmart, a bank office and a 6,000-square-foot pad site.

Construction of the gym is on schedule for completion in October, the EDA said.

It said the sale of a parcel to Walmart, necessary for the project’s documentation, had been slowed by a dispute over signage and access with an adjacent Red Roof Inn and by a delay in receiving a state highway access permit.

Those issues appear to be resolved, and a sale to Walmart is expected to take place by the fall, the EDA said.

Source: Courier Post Online