The existing Deptford Avis Car Rental on Hurffville Road (Rt 41) looks to expand to a dedicated space with more parking, and is in the early stages of proposing development of a 2,084 square foot commercial building within the township.
The new proposed location is currently a wooded lot at Harmony Lane & Hurffville Rd, which is directly next to the existing small strip mall that Avis Car Rental is currently located in.
The almost one acre lot is framed by Hurffville Road, Harmony Lane, and an unnamed access road which leads to the Courtyard by Marriott (the hotel sits further back off of Hurffville).
An existing residential home located on Harmony Lane directly next to proposed Avis building is not part of this project.
This is an early preview of the proposed project which has not been scheduled yet for any Deptford Boards to review.
Before I explain what is planned for the new Avis rent-a-car building it’s important to note the already approved changes coming to Harmony Lane, as well as a large development approved at the end of the roadway.
Earlier this year two new hotels were approved for the undeveloped property at the back of Harmony lane, closer to Route 42. The two hotels appear targeted towards business travelers and will be Towneplace Suites by Marriot and Home 2 by Hilton.
As part of that project developers will be rebuilding Harmony Lane to support the additional traffic, creating an all new and wider roadway. It was also agreed that the connection point of Harmony Lane to Hurffville Road would be adjusted over slightly.
The approval for the hotels as well as the plans to improve Harmony Lane has made the two front undeveloped corner lots prime candidates for additional commercial development.
And seems to of attracted the attention of Avis Car Rental
Once the two new hotels are developed, this will put six full size hotels within a 1/2 mile stretch of Hurffville Road. You can imagine that a significant amount of guests staying at the hotels are from out of town, and not having transportation during their stay… the expanded Avis facility would prove to be convenient.
Avis Car Rental – Harmony Lane
As mentioned, Avis already operates a successful car rental location on Hurffville Road, in a small strip shopping center directly on Hurffville, and in front of the Courtyard Hotel.
The existing Avis location is positioned in the center of the multi-tenant building which is also home to Sherwin-Williams Paint.
For the newly proposed project to be developed in the adjacent lot, a 2,084 sf rectangular building will be developed in the direct center of the property, with parking around the outer perimeter of the lot as well as full driveway access around the building.
The new Avis building will not have a direct entrance onto Hurffville Road, but there will be two access driveways connecting to Harmony Lane.
Project documents show that the new facility will have 42 parking spaces, which seems comparable to the existing location (front and back) but keep in mind that today they have to share those parking spaces with other businesses in the small strip mall, including Sherwin-Williams and another (not leased) tenant.
While existing trees and vegetation will have to be removed for the new project, the designs show replanting of trees around the perimeter of the property as well as shrubs and other landscaping features being added.
I do not have an estimate on the timing of this project. As mentioned this is early stage and has not even been presented to the Deptford Planning Board.
Additionally, it would seem that there is a dependency on the Harmony Lane roadway rebuild project taking place, which likely has another dependency on the larger hotel project being started.
Links and Locations
Avis Free-Standing Building (Proposed)
1257 Hurffville Road
Deptford NJ 08096
Avis Rental Car – Deptford (Existing)