Approved by Glassboro in May of 2023, a new Chick-fil-A restaurant for Glassboro NJ has not seen construction start yet, and many locals are curious as to how the project fits into the wedge-shaped property… 42Freeway shares what we know.
The location for the new Chick-fil-A is on Delsea drive at the site the former Glassboro Bowl and Recreation Center. The Matt Blatt Mitsubishi Dealership purchased the bowling alley property, and in 2019 demolished the bowling alley.
Also, a Raising Cane’s Chicken Finger restaurant is being developed about a mile up the road.
The extended property is three different segments.
At the wider end of the extended property is the former Save-A-Lot Grocery building which will be opening later this year as a Liscio’s Bakery and Retail store. Advanced Auto is next to Liscio’s.
At the narrow point of the property is the Matt Blatt Dealership building and car lot.
And in the center of the triangle-shaped property where the bowling alley was previously located, a new Chick-fil-A was approved for development.
The project also includes a reconfiguration of the parking lot which includes the creation of a defined center two-direction lane which sits between Chick-fil-A and the Liscio’s/Advanced Autos parking lots. The goal for this center “road” is to give access to the property from both Delsea Dr and Main Street, but effectively it connects the two roadways with a privately owned car lane.
Glassboro Chick-fil-A Status
Some construction activity has taken place in the area of the Chick-fil-A property, but it was not the core building construction
Simply, curbing and asphalt work around the upcoming Chick-fil-A was done earlier this year because construction crews were also working on the Liscio’s parking lot and center access road.
This activity was enough to confuse some locals and readers who thought the Chick-fil-A project had started for a short while, and then came to a halt.
The reality is the core Glassboro Chick-fil-A project has not started construction yet.
So yes the project was approved by the Borough of Glassboro last year, which is likely the most important approval… but it is not the only one required at times!
For the Zoning Board approval there were several conditions that needed to be addressed, including adjustments to the landscaping plan as well as gaining approvals from NJDOT (Rt 47) and Gloucester County (Main Street).
I’ve mentioned this before with other projects (such as the Sprouts in Washington Township), but when a new development project sits along a roadway that is owned by either NJDOT or the County, the associated entity gets to review the project site plan and approve how traffic moves in and out of their roadway. This can lead to discussions and impactful roadway improvements.
That being said I do not know what the open items are left to be completed for this project, just that Glassboro Zoning has not been given a full completion status on all required items, and has not given the O.K. to release the already filed construction permit applications.
Glassboro Chick-fil-A : Where Does it Fit?
Another popular question I’ve been getting a lot of (and seeing online) is that many are confused as to where the new Chick-fil-A fits on the property.
So as mentioned it’s in the center of the large open parking lot area which used to be the bowling alley.
Likely a part of the confusion is that since the construction of Chick-fil-A hasn’t started yet, the Matt blatt dealership has chosen to temporarily use the existing parking spots around the upcoming Chick-fil-A for its auto inventory. Cars can be seen extending much further into the adjacent property, towards that new center roadway that I mentioned.
Once the Chick-fil-A project gets started, the Matt Blatt car inventory parking lot will be segregated off from Chick-fil-A, with the drive-thru lanes also acting as a buffer. It appears this will reduce the amount of car inventory that Matt Blatt would have on the immediate property.
Even with realizing the car inventory will eventually be moved out, the project also has a unique parking situation.
For the main portion of the The Chick-fil-A property, it will have a long double lane drive-thru which will accommodate 32 cars. Immediately adjacent to the Chick-fil-A building is the main parking lot, which supports 43 cars.
Additionally, on the other side of the new cross-drive lane there are 23 parking spaces in the front row dedicated to Chick-fil-A. I would imagine that employees would be asked to park there, leaving the closer spots for customers.
To fully meet the needs of the required parking spaces, the Zoning Meeting Minutes describe that a second row of parking on the “other side” of the cross-lane would be designated as shared with Liscio’s.
Links and Location
Chick-fil-A Glassboro (Coming Soon)
503 Delsea Drive
Glassboro NJ