Two large and game-changing projects are underway at the Moorestown Mall which should help bring new life… and customers… to the shopping center.
Cooper Hospital is taking over the former Sears department store building, and phase 1 of “The Pearl” apartments has started with site clearing on the eastern (Boscov’s) end of the parking lot.
I say “game-changing” because neither of the two projects are retail oriented.
The mall will quickly become multi-use oriented where each different use benefits the others.
A clear hope is that the two new uses will bring an additional steady stream of customers into the shops and restaurants in and around the mall.
As an example, looking at the floor plans of the Cooper Hospital facility under-development at Sears, its clear to see they will have a large medical and administrative staff and patients on-site.
You can easily envision Cooper staff regularly taking the walk over to the food court for lunch, or meeting after work for happy hour or dinner at one of the several large alcohol serving restaurants.
Or patients coming in for appointments would many times “let’s check out the mall and get a bite to eat while we are here”
Not to mention the apartment complex is actually very close to Boscov’s… an easy walk for residents to visit the mall
I regularly visit the Moorestown Mall and honestly.. to me the mall appears to be doing fairly well given today’s overall retail environment. These new projects should help bring more customers in, and other retailers.
Cooper Hospital at Sears Moorestown Mall
Cooper hospital was approved earlier this year to redevelop the former Sears department store into its largest ambulatory center.
As part of the plan for the new medical facility, the former Sears building and a portion of the surrounding parking lot were split off into a new tax lot, which Cooper took ownership of.
The new medical facility will use all three floors of the building and will bring a variety of health services to the residents of Burlington County and beyond, but it will not be an Emergency Room or have hospital beds.
Information provided in the Planning Board application lists functionality such as; radiology (MRI, CT, Xray, Ultrasound), a radiation oncology suite, physical therapy and rehab gym and more.
In commentary to the Planning Board they anticipate approximately 200 Cooper staff will work in the new Moorestown facility.
In my visit to the site last week I was surprised to see the current state of the former Sears building! It has literally been “picked clean”!
Cooper has taken the facility down to the bare steel beams.. effectively they are building an all new building.
While this will be a new outer shell for the building it appears that Cooper is not changing the size of the property. It will still be very reminiscent to the footprint of the Moorestown Mall.
In an interview with Kevin Riordan of the Philadelphia Inquirer, a Cooper representative had this to say about the project and timelines
She described the facility as a campus that would open into the retail portion of the mall and complement the residential and other elements of the redevelopment.
Winn also said the first floor of the Cooper facility could open next September, with the second floor opening by the end of 2023.
Christine Winn, Cooper’s Senior Vice President for ambulatory operations, to the Philadelphia Inquirer
For additional details of the project and Planning Meeting, check out coverage at 70and73.com
The Pearl Apartment Complex: Phase I
A new apartment complex called The Pearl has started construction at the Moorestown Mall, with a significant portion of the asphalt parking lot near Boscov’s and Nixon Road removed.
This is just one first phase in mixed-use projects planned for the mall, which in the future will include additional residential buildings and a hotel.
That being said this initial development is very considerable at close to 470,00 square feet.
It will be 4 stories tall, include 375 apartment units (75 affordable units) as well as a parking garage with 672 parking spaces!
In reviewing site plan documents submitted to Moorestown, it appears the building will take up a significant portion of the former parking lot area.
As a rough estimate, at it’s closest point to the mall the new construction will be about 50 feet from Boscov’s.
A corner portion of the mall parking will remain supporting 89 parking spaces on the ground, plus there will be the adjacent large parking garage.
The apartment project will have several open courtyards within the building design including a swimming pool.
Jim Walsh of the Courier-Post has details on this project going back to 2020.