Cherry Hill is legendary as the region's
ever-expanding center for commerce and economic success. Due to aggressive economic development
strategies, the Township continues to attract
some of the area's most successful companies and has helped long-time
corporate citizens
expand. The Township's commercial base is diverse: banking and
insurance, healthcare, high-technology, pharmaceuticals,
electronics, printing and publishing, as well as multi-tenant office
centers and shopping centers enhance the Township's business
community.
In 2003, the Garden State Park racetrack ceased operations as a venue for
horseracing, trade shows and numerous community events. World-renowned Turnberry Associates of Aventura, Florida,
completed initial site plans for a mixed-use development. Through a partnership with local developers JMP Holdings and M&M Realty Partners
of Clifton, New Jersey, a combination of residential, office and
commercial development is growing everyday. The New
Jersey Transit rail station at the site provides
transportation to Philadelphia and Atlantic City. As
part of the estimated $500 million plan, there will be an
approximately one million square-foot corporate center and an
upscale lifestyle center known as Towne Place at Garden State Park with retail shops and small
restaurants, cafés, and offices.
The revitalization of the Garden State Park is expected to bring more
than 4,000 permanent jobs to the Township and will generate
substantial additional tax revenues when completed. Two phases of
this project are nearly complete. Phase IA at the Marketplace at Garden State Park consists of
520,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, including a 134,000-square-foot Home Depot (now open) and a
130,000-square-foot Wegmans Food Markets store (opening June 2006).
Phase IB, Plaza Grande at Garden State Park, consists of 608
age-restricted condominiums
currently under construction by nationally-renowned builder D.R.
Horton of Ft. Worth, Texas.
The Cherry Hill Mall, owned by the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT),
includes anchor stores Macy's, J.C. Penney, and Old Navy, with a new anchor coming soon
to replace legendary Philadelphia retailer Strawbridge & Clothier. The
Cherry Hill Mall was the first enclosed shopping mall on the East
Coast and still attracts thousands of shoppers daily from southern
New Jersey, Philadelphia and other parts of the Delaware Valley.
PREIT is in the planning process for a major facelift of the Mall,
and has attracted numerous new tenants since taking ownership: Sephora, Arden B, Ann Taylor Loft and more.
The adjacent Hillview Shopping Center contains 350,000 square feet of
retail space including Target and Kohl's stores. The Plaza at
Cherry Hill, also adjacent to the Mall site, has recently completed
numerous upgrades and welcomed new tenants in recent years. Occupancy includes Tower Records, fortunoff, and Sam Ash Music.
The new Beowulf Plaza, a model for "flexible office" space, along with the landmark Subaru of America building,
Commerce Center, Commerce Bank Atrium, and Liberty View
Center are monuments of design and demonstrate the ongoing success
and desirability of the Township as a corporate center. Of the
twenty-five (25) largest County private-sector employers, 44% are
located in the Township. The Township is also home to some of
the largest international companies in southern New Jersey
including Subaru, Pinnacle Foods (Duncan Hines, Vlasic and more), and Commerce Bancorp.
The Township is home to Cherry Hill Industrial Sites, a
continually expanding, high-tech multi-tenant complex with a high
occupancy rate.
Recent and
exciting redevelopment successes in Cherry Hill include the
296,000-square-foot Vornado Shopping Center on Route 38 and the
370,000-square-foot former Langston Steel Plant on Woodcrest Road.
During the summer of 2004, the consulting firm EDS (Towers Perrin) moved
approximately 1,000 employees to the Langston Steel site, now known
as the Woodcrest Corporate Center. The Center’s developer, O’Neill
Properties, converted the site into Class A office space providing a
premier, thoroughly modern and comfortable working environment.
In time, all of the professionals working at the site will have direct access to the
nearby Woodcrest Station on the PATCO high-speed rail system with service to Philadelphia and suburban New Jersey. The
Delaware River Port Authority has committed to construct an access tunnel linking
the Corporate Center to the station to ease the daily commute for
workers.
In January
2005, a 142,000-square-foot Wal-Mart store opened in the Vornado
Shopping Center at Route 30 and Cuthbert Boulevard.
The world’s largest retailer joined anchor Toys R Us and a new
Office Depot store at the shopping center, and offers both a garden
and auto center. The Township worked with the developer to revise
designs of the building’s exterior. The building features a
partially-brick-faced façade with classic architectural features
that differentiate the Cherry Hill Wal-Mart from other stores in the
chain. The site also includes increased open space. Cherry Hill
officials also met with the Wal-Mart developers and the neighbors to
address their needs and concerns. In conjunction with the New
Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the Camden County
Soil Conservation District, the Township worked to make improvements
to drainage and water filtration methods at the Wal-Mart site.
Recent success stories also include Mercedes-Benz of Cherry Hill, which chose to keep
its business location in Cherry Hill rather than relocate elsewhere. A vacant Township-owned former hotel, the Rickshaw Inn,
sat unused and untaxable for six years at its prominent Route 70 location. Today, the site has new life as the striking,
state-of-the-art home of the Township's Mercedes-Benz dealer. Meanwhile, the auto retailer’s former Cherry Hill site has already
been purchased and is undergoing renovations to reopen as Subaru of Cherry Hill.
The Township's investment in infrastructure and its long-term strategic
planning have resulted in millions of dollars in private investment
in several corporate office parks. The Executive Campus-
built in the 1970s as a state-of-the-art office complex- declined through
the 1980s. With a 50% occupancy rate, the buildings in the park
were subject to foreclosures and bankruptcies. Aggressive
redevelopment initiatives by the Township saved the park. Matrix
Development Group, Brandywine Realty Trust, Needleman Management and
others have purchased the office buildings, invested millions of
dollars in improvements and turned the Executive Office Campus
around. Now home to GE Capital, Stone & Webster, Cooper Health
System, and the New Jersey Department of Transportation, it is at
nearly 95% occupancy. The hub of office buildings along King’s
Highway known as the Cherry Hill Office Center (built in the 1960s)
had also declined by the 1980s to a 40% occupancy rate, but due to
on-going renovations and the convenient location, occupancy is now
at 98%.
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The Ellisburg and Barclay Farms shopping centers both underwent
multi-million dollar renovations in recent years. In December
1998, the 400,000 square foot Garden State Pavilions shopping center
opened and is home to Staples, Ross, Petco, a Shop-Rite grocery, Friendly’s restaurant, and a variety of other retail
stores. The entire site is adjacent to the $500 million Garden State Park redevelopment project and Cherry Hill's NJ Transit Rail
Station with direct service to Atlantic City and 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.
The hospitality industry has expanded in Cherry Hill. The Holiday Inn
Cherry Hill and the Crowne Plaza Hotel have undergone
multi-million dollar renovations and the Township is home to two
extended-stay hotels. Several restaurants have found a new home in
Cherry Hill, including Porterhouse, Bertucci’s, Bucca di Beppo,
Bahama Breeze, Applebee’s, Silver Diner and Famous Dave's Barbeque.
The banking industry has also expanded with the explosive growth of
Cherry Hill-based Commerce Bank, the openings
of Liberty Bank and World Savings Bank, and the addition of new
locations for The Bank, which is based in neighboring Gloucester County, New Jersey.