FROM THE COURIER-POST (Gannett Co., Inc.)
April 18, 2006
LISA GRZYBOSKI
Courier-Post
Revitalization of Echelon Mall would add homes, drop stores
Courier-Post Staff VOORHEES
Some Echelon Mall shoppers cast glances as they hurried by.
Some slowed down long enough to point, while others stopped to stare.
It wasn't a new store, advertisement or product that grabbed their attention last week. Rather, it was the mall's future.
A first-floor storefront once occupied by retail shops during the mall's better days now serves as a display case for its proposed transformation into a town center for Voorhees.
Conspicuously absent from the plan is the anchor store that J.C. Penney vacated four years ago and the mall interior's newest section, which was built in the 1980s when business was thriving. Also gone is the mall's newest anchor location, which Sears occupied briefly before vacating in 2001.
Taking their place in the redevelopment proposal is a wide, outdoor boulevard lined on either side by apartment units above shops, businesses and restaurants. Just off the boulevard appears a supermarket, more apartment buildings and condominium complexes.
Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, the Philadelphia company that took ownership of the mall in 2003, considers the proposal to be the solution to revive a mall -- and a community landmark -- that's now half vacant and missing two of its four anchors.
PREIT first presented its town center concept to the township planning board and the public last summer, shortly after neighboring residents protested its proposal to replace the former JCPenney store and part of the mall with a Wal-Mart over fears it would be an eyesore and create a traffic nightmare.
The public and planning board last month saw updated plans, which showed the 1.1-million-square-foot mall would be reduced to 660,000 square feet, while the new town center would feature 185,000 square feet of commercial space, about 382 apartment units and roughly 135 condominiums.
"We are very committed to accomplishing this plan," said Richard Zeigler, vice president of development for PREIT. "Personally, I think the township and overall community will support it."
The company hasn't submitted a formal development application with the planning board.
Instead, PREIT is waiting for the township to designate the mall property a redevelopment area so it can build the residential units, which currently are not permitted, and have access to special financial incentives such as grants and low-interest loans.
The planning board should finalize its recommendations on the mall redevelopment plan at its April 26 meeting, and the township committee hopes to pass an ordinance approving the plan next month.
Once that happens, PREIT has pledged to file its application within six weeks, Zeigler said.
"In general, we really like the idea they're presenting," said Marylee Margolis, co-chair of Smart Action for Voorhees and Echelon, a group of residents near the mall created to oppose PREIT's initial Wal-Mart proposal. "They listened to us and we're thrilled with that."
People have concerns with the high number of residential units and how that would affect Voorhees public schools and local traffic, Margolis said. But they're willing to work with PREIT to find a compromise on those issues because Echelon Mall is too important to the community to let die, she added.
Bobby Kumar, who manages a jewelry kiosk at the mall, agreed.
"A lot of families depend on this mall for shopping and for jobs," he said. "I would hate for people to have to leave."
PREIT is partnering with Dewey Commercial of Wayne, Pa., to construct the 517 housing units and underground parking garages. Officials with both companies say the project would add fewer than 60 children to the Voorhees school district because town-center living is geared more toward young professionals and retired adults, Zeigler said.
The township's own professional planner agrees with that estimate, said Deputy Mayor Mario DiNatale.
DiNatale said he supports the redevelopment plan, but added he would like to see PREIT err on the side of caution and decrease the number of housing units.
If it was up to Anne and Tim Sullivan of Runnemede, loyal Echelon Mall shoppers, there wouldn't be a housing component to the redevelopment. They said it will create too many obstacles for shoppers.
"We like this mall because it's easy to park and get in and out," Anne Sullivan said. "If it turns into a town center, we'll probably just shop at the Deptford Mall."
But the town center plan, which includes significant renovations to the portion of the mall that would remain, could provide the spark that mall merchants desperately need, said Celeste Cinalli, who owns Italian Treasures.
"People want places that sparkle and have a little bit more to offer," she said. "With this new concept, I think it's going to work. It's our turn."
Reach Lisa Grzyboski at (856) 251-3345 or lgrzyboski@courierpostonline.com
WHAT'S NEXT
The Voorhees planning board is scheduled to finalize its recommendations on the Echelon Mall redevelopment plan at its April 26 meeting. The session is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the municipal building, 620 Haddonfield-Berlin Road.
The recommendations will be forwarded to the township committee, which will consider adopting an ordinance that puts the redevelopment plan into effect. That could happen as early as mid-May.
Mall owner Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust of Philadelphia has promised to submit a formal development application with the planning board within six weeks of the plan's adoption.