Bancroft, an organization that provides educational and
other programming for special needs children and adults, has finalized its $5.7
million purchase of 80 acres in Mount Laurel, N.J.
The non-profit put the land under agreement last fall and
plans to relocate from its existing Haddonfield, N.J., facilities to the new
site in Bishops Gate Corporate Center at Walton Avenue and Marter Road. It
bought the land for $71,000 an acre.
Bancroft provides educational and continuum-of-care
services to children and adults with autism, brain injuries, and other
intellectual or developmental disabilities. It has 2,000 employees over nine
campuses and satellite locations in New Jersey, and more than 150 community
group homes and supervised apartments throughout New Jersey, Pennsylvania and
Delaware.
It had been looking for a property to replace the
Bancroft School and residential programs from its Haddonfield campus. That
facility is dated, and while it has invested in upgrades, Bancroft has outgrown
it with no room to expand to accommodate its needs.
Bancroft’s plans include a relocation and expansion of
its flagship, the Bancroft School, as well as the Lindens Center for Autism,
Campus Residences, Enrichment and Training Institute and new programs featuring
recreation, socialization and technological opportunities for children, adults
and families throughout the region.
“This is a significant step towards our goal of reaching
more children and families who need our resources in the special needs
community,” said Toni Pergolin, President and CEO at Bancroft, in a statement.
“We have envisioned a campus that takes our school and pediatric programs to a
new level and provides new opportunities for engagement. This campus will offer
a destination of hope for families in the greater autism and developmental
disability community.”
Bancroft expects to complete its move and new campus for
the 2017-2018 school year.
In 2013, Bancroft sought to sell its 19-acre Haddonfield
campus next to Haddonfield Memorial High School to the school district but
voters rejected a $12.5 million bond referendum that would have authorized the
Haddonfield Board of Education to buy the property on Kings Highway East. A
controversy then erupted when Recovery Centers of America later bought the site
from Bancroft with the intention of opening a drug and alcohol treatment
facility.
The borough of Haddonfield went forward with purchasing
the site for $12.9 million from RCA and “provides the opportunity for the first
time since 1883 to re-plan this significant property within Haddonfield,” the
municipality said in a March redevelopment plan that it is proposing.
The transaction is scheduled to close in June. Under the
agreement, a entity affiliate with developer Brian O’Neill, who operates RCA,
will have an option to buy 8.2 acres. O’Neill can develop a maximum of 80
residential units of which 70 would be market-rate, age-restricted units and 10
would be deed-restricted to low- and moderate-income households.
Preliminary plans have the municipality using the site
for: active and passive open space; age-restricted residential housing;
expanding the Haddonfield Borough Board of Education facilities; and preserving
1886 Lullworth Hall. A public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday on the
proposal.
Source: Philadelphia
Business Journal
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