Expansion is underway at the Shoppes at Gloucester Township in Blackwood (Black Horse Pike), with construction taking place at both ends of the shopping center.
Located at the Black Horse Pike and Davistown Road, you likely know the center for Sam’s Bar & Grille… or Dunkin.
For the new “under construction” spaces, two tenants have been signed on… Pickle Juice Indoor Pickleball & Juice Bar was previously announced, and they are still coming. For the right-side space a dispensary was recently signed on.
Shoppes at Gloucester Township – Background
As a background on this construction effort, it goes back several years when property owner MLG Realty was approved for the expansion of the shopping center.
That expansion approval included four facets of the property;
- New Dunkin – Opened
- New retail space behind the Sam’s Bar ( under construction)
- New units on the right-hand side of the main shopping center building (under construction)
- A large 7,000sf pad site in the front corner of the property. (looking for tenant)
Development did not start on the approved expansion for several years… likely for two reasons; at the time there were still available space within the existing shopping center building, and ownership was looking for tenants on the expansion spaces before starting new development.
For the main shopping center building, back in 2021 they signed on a new Dollar Tree store which took over a large portion of the available space at the center of the building.
Then in January of 2023, 42Freeway reported that Pickle Juice Indoor Pickleball and Juice Bar was signed on to take over the remaining space in the main building, to be located between Sam’s Bar and the the new Dollar Tree.
It seems even at this point MLG Realty was not ready to start the previously approved expansion project.
That changed in February of this year when Pickle Juice decided to move forward with an even larger footprint in the shopping center, and signed a lease to also take over the “not yet developed” expansion area behind Sam’s bar.
Effectively the Pickle Juice space will be “L”-shaped and wrap around the popular Sam’s Bar and Grille.
With a mostly full shopping center and a newly signed lease for the left-side expansion, that was enough for MLG Realty to go ahead and start the development of the two main building expansion aspects which we see taking place today.
Left Side Expansion – Pickle Juice
Pickle Juice is a new business concept which combines pickleball courts and a juice bar into one indoor facility. They currently have a location opened in Ventnor NJ (Acme Shopping Center).
The facility offers a climate controlled indoor space, and with the addition of the under construction expansion their plans have grown from from pickleball courts to six!
This left-side expansion effort is not as far along, and while you may not notice it driving by… my drone images taken yesterday show that the cinder block wall foundation has been completed and likely construction will move quickly from this point.
I did not get an updated opening date from management on pickle juice
Right Side New Units – Dispensary
And finally to what is the most visible expansion portion of the shopping center… over on the right side closest to Dunkin… a new expansion building has been developed supporting 3 new units (3 doors and associated front windows)
This construction effort started without a tenant signed on, but shopping center management tells me they now have a fully executed lease for a new dispensary.
At this time I do not have details on what the brand is for that dispensary or it’s expected opening.
Front Pad Site – Tenant Needed
As mentioned at the start of the article, years ago property ownership was also approved for an all-new construction building in the front corner of the property closest to the traffic light intersection.
Those plans called for a 7,000 square foot restaurant as a targeted tenant, but no one has signed on. So if you are a business owner looking for a new location in the Blackwood area you can reach out to MLG Realty.
And if your requirements are different than the previously approved building, you can still reach out to MLG Realty as they could easily go back to Gloucester Township for additional approvals if necessary
Links and Location
The Shoppes at Gloucester Township
Black Horse Pike and Davistown Road
Blackwood NJ