July construction updates on several exciting Berlin-Cross Keys Road Sicklerville projects we previously covered; Mission BBQ, Dave’s Hot Chicken, Aspen Dental and First Watch!
These four projects moved through approvals and leasing at different times over the last two years, and now we are seeing activity across all four projects.
Also, back in May an all-new Johnny Longhots Steak & Pizza shop opened in the Shoppes at Gloucester!
Mission BBQ Sicklerville
Mission BBQ is a popular barbecue restaurant with over 100 locations. An area location in Deptford NJ near the mall is very popular… every time I visit no matter the day or time, there are always many customers in the dining room.
With the first location opened on the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, Mission BBQ strives to honor those who proudly serve for us whether in the military, police, emergency services and related. To date they have donated more than $20 million
For Sicklerville, Mission BBQ is being developed in an all-new construction small stripmall in Gloucester Township next to the Shoppes at Gloucester, and across from Creanies Ice Cream/Patient First Urgent Care.
The property was originally a parking lot for the church, but that church was converted to a dialysis center making the large parking area unnecessary. To fully support both buildings (dialysis center and new construction) a new parking lot was first developed in front of the dialysis center.
I first reported on the plans for this shopping center in November 2022, and published an update a year later when initial construction started.
In my visit last week you could see that the new building is fully “built up” with most of the exterior siding in place.
A somewhat signature Mission BBQ corner entrance “tower” is seen on the building.
The door on the right side of the building will lead to a side outdoor patio dining area, which is very similar to the Deptford location.
Based on construction documents I’ve seen, this Mission BBQ will take about 1/3 of the building, which likely means it will be smaller than the Deptford location.
Currently I see they have a job opening for a Marketing Coordinator, which is likely a role they want to have on board ahead of the restaurant opening to help build up awareness within the community.
Aspen Dental Winslow
Aspen Dental is also an all-new construction effort and is rising quickly in front of the Winslow Township ShopRite. An existing tall digital billboard signpost is directly in front of the new dental office.
I first covered plans for this new 3,525 sq ft building back in February of 2023.
Previously the property contained a small ranch home that had been converted into an office. That building was demolished ahead of construction.
Interestingly, the project design flip-flopped from when I first wrote about it.
Originally the new building was to be placed on the left side of the property, closest to the corner bank.
Later on the developers returned to the Winslow Board with a site plan which moved the dental building to the right side of the property… and interestingly very close to the digital billboard signpost.
Having the signpost so close to the roadside frontage side of the building is something I’ve never seen. While I did not walk on to the construction site it appears based on photos and the submitted site plans that the large signpost is just a few feet (maybe inches) away from new dental offices front side.
Online I found job listings for a dentist and the office manager
Dave’s Hot Chicken Sicklerville
Dave’s Hot Chicken is a fast growing “Nashville Hot” style chicken tender restaurant which is redeveloping the previously closed PDQ Chicken restaurant on the Winslow Township side of Cross Keys Rd.
I first broke news on the project in early June of this year and already crews are on site completely gutting the interior of the restaurant.
I stopped in last week to see a dumpster on site, and from my car vantage point I could tell that the interior of the building was gutted. I did not get out of the car to snap a photo of the interior… it was a REALLY hot day, and maybe I was also feeling a bit lazy!
Dave’s Hot Chicken opened a location in Cherry Hill back in early April, and was met with several weeks of long lines of people waiting to try one of America’s hottest chicken restaurant chains.
I stopped back in to the Cherry Hill location a few weeks ago and still found a very packed restaurant with most seats filled and customers waiting for orders.
If you’re unfamiliar with Dave’s Hot Chicken, they feature a simplistic menu focused on their Nashville Hot Sstyle chicken tenders, which can also be served as sandwich. A small selection of delicious sides are also offered.
All of the chicken is prepared fresh in-house comment and they offer a variety of heat levels that the customer can choose when ordering.
The limited menu offerings is very similar model to Raising Cane’s except Dave’s Hot Chicken focuses on the spicier Nashville style seasonings.
First Watch Sicklerville
A First Watch brunch restaurant is planning on taking over the previously closed Bertucci’s Restaurant at the front of the Shoppes at Gloucester.
First Watch is a brunch-focused restaurant who calls themselves “The Daylight Cafe”, serving amazing breakfast and lunch entrees where everything is enhanced with chef inspired twists.
Favorites are the Million Dollar Bacon, which is a hardwood smoked bacon baked with brown sugar, black pepper, cayenne and Maple syrup drizzle.
A location has been open in Washington Township for several years, and before that they opened in Cherry Hill.
The special twist for the upcoming Sicklerville location is that based on the plans that I have, they will be offering a full bar in Sicklerville… offering amazing mimosas, bloody mary’s and more!
My article on the plans for First Watch Sicklerville was written just back in May of this year, and honestly there is no construction activity to be seen at the property.
But one recent development is that for a few days recently, a job offering was posted for a Restaurant Operations Manager for First Watch where it clearly says “NEW RESTAURANT COMING SOON TO SICKLERVILLE, NJ”
But it was only online for a few days before being listed as no longer available.
Likely someone in recruiting posted this a little too early… particularly since we’ve seen no activity at the site.