Approved for 163 market-based townhomes in three phases surrounding Silver Lake in Gibbsboro, Phase One of the D.R. Horton project has been cleared along Clementon Road.
Located across the street from the lake, this property is not part of the Lucas Paint Works site remediation effort that is taking place on several properties along nearby Foster Ave.
The other two townhome phases for this project were approved on the South side of the lake, on either side of South United States Ave. The phase two property will be positioned along the lake waterfront.
Additionally Gibbsboro is preparing an RFP for three other lakefront properties which they have targeted for restaurant development. Also to be done in phases, the Phase 1 property is at the corner of United States Ave and Lakeview Drive. Up until 10 years ago that corner was the location of a large distribution building and office.
I previously covered the Site Remediation efforts taking place in the area. You can read that detailed coverage here. Also I provide a short update in this new article.
Lakeside Village Phase One
Identified in Planning Board documents as Lakeside Village, the 163 townhome project is being developed by Dr. Horton.
This Phase One aspect on Clementon Road sits across the street from the Lucas House, and was previously a parking lot and undeveloped woods.
The first phase will consist of 15 blocks of townhomes with four-to-six units per block. Site plan renderings from the Township do not show any common community aspects.
In a July 2023 Facebook post, Gibbsboro Mayor Edward Campbell stated there will be 3 versions of the townhomes built, which will sell between $400,000 and $500,000 each, resulting in a significant boost to the tax base.
He also reminds residents that this was originally proposed as a development of over 500 apartments with 16% set aside for affordable housing. The borough was not amenable to those plans and in a lawsuit brought by then developer Brandywine, an agreement was reached in Superior Court which led to the plans for this townhome development.
Phase two of the housing would be along South United States Avenue to the lake waterfront, Somewhat right in the middle of the lakes southern edge, where a small parking area exists as well as woods.
The third phase is an L-shaped property on the other side of South United States Avenue which is also an unused parking lot. The CVS pharmacy would be to the immediate East of the Phase Three property.
I do not have any timing on the phases or when the first phase of townhomes would be ready for leasing. I could not find any online marketing presence for the project.
Gibbsboro Silver Lake Restaurants
Silver Lake already has a successful restaurant with the Chop House located on the northeast corner of lake (Lakeview Drive and Clementon Rd), featuring amazing views of the water… and an amazing menu.
The Borough, realizing that the lake location and popularity for community activities has hopes to have have a restaurant on each corner of the lake.
According to comments by Mayor Campbell in the November Council Meeting, they will be preparing a “Request For Proposals” for the development of the properties, hoping to have the restaurant property RFP available for January, with a March due date.
I reached out to the Mayor this morning for an update on that timing but honestly it was just an hour ago so I do not have an answer yet.
Tax records show that two of the three properties are owned by Gibbsboro. The large remediation properties on the western side of the lake along Foster Ave were acquired by Sherwin Williams two years ago… Sherwin Williams is handling the costs of the remediation efforts.
The corner property at Foster and Clementon Road has been designated “Vista Park” and in that area a restaurant is also targeted… which makes me think at least a portion of this remediation land will be turned over to Gibbsboro eventually.
Paint Works Cleanup
About 18-months ago I covered the Paint Works Site remediation project somewhat extensively including property history, and you can read those details here.
That being said the Mayor provides regular updates at his Facebook page, which was used for portions of the update below.
Currently efforts are focused on Foster Avenue properties which is closed to through traffic as they have temporary piping in place over the roadway.
A core aspect of the effort is to remove contaminated soil which required contractors to remove parking lots and demolish a few buildings to access the soil underneath. Soil is being removed and stockpiled on site and then trucks come at a later day to move off-site.
The Paint Works parking lot is closed to the public and the wooden boardwalk at the base of Silver Lake is also closed to the public while they move through this remediation effort. The paved portion of the lake trail remains open.
Some closures have also taken place on Washington Street and Haddon Ave in the area, but that is for the installation of sanitary sewer mains in support of the townhome project.
Links
Paint Works – Sherwin Williams/Hilliards Creek Remediation
Foster Ave
Gibbsboro NJ
- Remediation Project Website
- Mayor Edward Campbell Facebook Updates (Facebook)
- EPA Superfund Cleanup