A new Voorhees Wawa opened yesterday on White Horse Rd at the Burnt Mill Rd intersection. It was originally home to a classic sized Wawa which was demolished as part of the new build.
The location is close to the large Lindenwold Patco Station. The Voorhees Town Center is also nearby, right up Burnt Mill Rd;
Twenty… (Five?) Years in the Making
We reported on the plans for this new Wawa back in February 2020.
A two year turnaround from planning to opening for a Wawa… especially when a pandemic was in place during the start of the process… is very good! Or is it?
As one would expect, to accommodate the larger sized footprint of the new Wawa with gas pumps, Wawa acquired additional surrounding properties to fit it all in. Wawa now has the entire block!
The reality though is, it seems Wawa has been planning this Super Store for over 20 years!
In the early 2000s the full block used to include 5 homes, with the classic Wawa positioned on the small North West corner.
Google Earth Satellite maps shows the homes in place in the early 2000s, but between 2006 and 2008… the homes were all demolished!
A look at County records show that many of those home properties were purchased by Wawa as far back as 2002!
That alone is TWENTY YEARS AGO!
Factor in that Wawa had to of been discussing the upgrade plans for years before that… I think it’s safe to assume that this Super Wawa probably took close to 25 years to open.
Housing prices were much cheaper 20 years ago, but just think about that.. Wawa purchased multiple homes and demolished them… only to not start development for another 15 years or so!
And people think the 5-points Wawa in Washington Township has taken a long time!
2006 Denial and Lawsuit
According to a 2008 Courier Post article, Wawa went to Voorhees Planning in November 2006 and was denied. Wawa sued.
A two year legal battle took place and the 2008 articles states Wawa LOST in their plans to develop the Wawa.
Obviously almost 15 years later Wawa was able to return to the Planning Board and win approval. 42Freeway does not have the details at this time on the Planning Board’s “Change of heart”
Once Greenlighted – Construction is Fast!
Mark from 42Freeway has been visiting the site multiple times this year, taking drone images along the way.
Just a few months ago in May just the basic shell was developed and the gas station pumps were just a steel frame. So it’s impressive to see everything has opened just 4 months later!
Other are Wawas seem to take forever to get started… the reality is once all of the approvals are completed, they can actually build these stores fairly quickly. Most of the wait seems to be getting “all of the ducks in a row”!
Wawa announced the official opening via a Facebook event! My apologies readers for not sharing it!
Links and Location
Wawa Voorhees – Burnt Mill
1702 Burnt Mill Rd
Voorhees NJ
Store Facebook Page