Harrison Township (Gloucester County) has a new development proposal on the table for the Richwood section of town, which over a period of up to 20 years looks to develop 10 Warehouses, a Hotel, a Retail Wholesale Club store, and two housing developments.
The warehouse component of the plan totals 2.9 million square feet.
If fully approved, once completed the project would effectively take over the entire 385-acre property located at the Route 322 exit of Route 55 which for well over a decade has been the focus/discussion of several large-scale developments proposals… none of which has seen any dirt get turned over.
This new proposal comes from Active Acquisitions which is a North Jersey based development company. While their website states industrial, commercial and residential developments… the website front page rotating image gallery features warehouses.
On Thursday September 5th at 7pm the Harrison Township Joint Land Use Board will be reviewing a “General Development Plan” application from Active Acquisitions (ActiveRWHA LLC) regarding this 5 Phase project.
Based on the definition of “General Development Plan” the application will first be reviewed for completeness, and if it meets the completeness requirements… a public hearing will be conducted on the project. My understanding though is the town then has 95 days to render a decision on the plan.
An interesting side note the current property owner holds four liquor licenses for Harrison Township that have never been used… and as the new project is defined in the documents I don’t see that it will need those licenses, So maybe they become available for sale?
The proposed hotel will likely be able to qualify for it’s own special hotel liquor license.
First a Primer – General Development Plans
On Thursday September 5th the Joint Land Use Board will be reviewing a “General Development Plan” application from Active Acquisitions (ActiveRWHA LLC).
A general development plan in New Jersey is different than a site plan approval. I do not believe this Thursday meeting is a full approval enabling immediate development, but it is a very important step in the definition and approval of this large-scale development.
If the application is deemed completed and accepted, the clock then starts on how long the town has to decide if they approve of the plan.
General Development Plans were created in New Jersey for larger projects that would take many years to develop and likely would be developed in multiple phases.
The General Development plan outlines the core concept of what the developer is looking to achieve for the large area project in an extended time frame (up to 20 years).
If the General Development Plan is approved, the developer has been given the right to develop the individual aspects/buildings of the project during that time frame… meeting the definitions of the originally approved plan.
Ahead of the development of an individual phase/building, a full site plan hearing and approval would be needed for that aspect… but because the project definition and scope had already been approved… the individual site plan hearing would be more about making sure that the current project phase fits all the nuances of development ordinances and they original General Development Plan.
A key reason for New Jersey creating this Land Use law many decades ago is that developers building large projects would take a huge risk in purchasing a significant parcel of land and receive approval for its development knowing it would take 10-20 years… but then some years into the project timeline the local political climate could change within the Township, and the developer could find themselves no longer allowed to complete what they thought was a previously approved project vision!
So the General Development Plan in essence protects the developer’s investment in the long-term project, so that its approval can’t be taken away in later phases.
Another aspect of General Development Plans in New Jersey is the Township must first accept the application as fully complete meeting all the document requirements set forth by the Township and the State of New Jersey.
Once the application has been accepted the Township then has 95 days to issue a decision… if they agree or disagree to the proposed General Development Plan.
So I do not believe this September 5th meeting is a final approval for the project, but if the application is deemed complete there will be a hearing to review the application and project details, and then Harrison Township will have 95 days to decide if they accept the General Development Plan.
Harrison Richwood Development – Active Acquisitions
As mentioned this project would be developed West of Route 55 at the Rt 322 (Mullica Hill Rd) exit.
The acreage is basically split into 4 quadrants with Route 322 splitting it horizontally, and Aura/Lambs Road splitting it vertically
The developer has chosen to split the project into 5 phases with the largest acreage parcel being addressed in two different efforts.
Phase 1 is the Northeast Quadrant which is the property behind the existing Wawa convenience store (to Route 55). That property would feature 2 warehouse buildings (231,000sf and 105,000sf).
Phase 2 is the Hotel, Retail and Affordable Residential aspect. This would be located in the Southeast Quadrant between Aura Road and Route 55.
The hotel would be positioned in a prime spot along route 322 with close access to the route 55 exit. This also puts the hotel closest to the inspira hospital as well as the Rowan University facilities. The hotel is stated as 101 rooms which in New Jersey makes it qualify for a special hotel use liquor license.
The large retailer building would be developed behind the hotel along Aura Road.
While the retailer is not named, seeing it find as a Wholesale Club Store with gas does lead one to think that it would be Costco particularly since Costco it was previously expected to be developed as part of a prior Richwood development effort.
The last segment in this phase would be the affordable residential housing.
Phase 3 is in the larger Southwest Quadrant and is the 116 lot single family home residential development.
Phase 4 is also in the southwest quadrant and would feature the development of six warehouses totaling 1.6 million square feet.
Phase 5 is the northwest quadrant and would feature two final warehouses one at 554,000 square feet and a second at 400,000 square feet.
Links and Location
Township Of Harrison – Joint Land Use Board
September 5, 2024 – 7pm
Harrison Courtroom
114 Bridgeton Pike
Mullica Hill, NJ