After an almost 15 year effort, the Deptford Movies 10-screen theater project was approved last night for Deptford NJ. 42Freeway covered this in February ahead of its original March hearing date.
The property is located on Clements Bridge Road, in a large undeveloped lot across from Rastelli’s Market.
On the undeveloped side of the roadway where the theater is to be developed, only a small chiropractors office is in place. The movie theater will be developed behind that property with the theater parking lot wrapping around to the side of the Doctor’s office.
This movie theater project will also include an extension of Caulfield Avenue across Clements Bridge Road into the currently undeveloped property, and a traffic signal will be added at the intersection.
This intersection and Caulfield Ave extension will serve as the main entrance into the Deptford Movies project as well as a Scott Honda Auto Dealership which was approved last fall (to be developed across from Deptford Honda Yamaha).
Cars looking to access the Movie Theater or Car Dealership will turn at the traffic signal intersection into the new development along a new segment of Caulfield Ave… The movie theater entrance would be to the right and the auto dealership entrance would be to the left.
This larger 23-acre property for the movie theater and Honda dealership also includes a portion of wetlands somewhat in the center, which the projects and new roadway will not impact. A bike path will also be accounted for.
Once all of the approvals are gained for both projects, the lot will be subdivided with the movie theater and Honda dealership each owning their own parcels. They are completely separate projects but do have an initial connection regarding the process to subdivide the lot.
As part of an agreement with the Township, the movie theater developer agreed to extend the new extension of Caulfield Avenue an extra 150 feet longer than the theater owner needs, as this fits into the town’s Master Plan for the roadway, which is to connect to other local roads that the town would like to develop… eventually connecting to Cooper Street.
Deptford Movies – The Need
Many will note that Deptford already has an AMC 8 movie theater on Clements Bridge Road (across from the mall) and if this new project is developed, it would mean a total of 18 theater screens for the retail district surrounding the Deptford Mall.
After the meeting I had a chance to speak with project developer Arthur Helmick who operates several movie theaters in Delaware.
Arthur explained the latest technical innovations in the movie theater industry such as laser projectors offering the clearest images, as well as advanced seating technology… and while he has been disappointed with the delays in getting this Deptford project off the ground all these years, he’s excited to be able to incorporate all of these new technologies into the Deptford Movies project.
Arthur addressed the fact that there is another theatre already in town and states that his research (which he says is backed by industry data) states that the Deptford market can support the two theaters.
Consider that the Cherry Hill AMC is a 24-theater facility, and for Deptford even with two facilities would actually still be 25% smaller (in theaters) than what Cherry Hill has.
In further explaining the need, Arthur described how there are currently challenges when major releases are stacked up such as major holidays and summertime blockbuster movies… Where the contractual agreements for major movies can keep top films from being shown in Deptford as there just aren’t enough theaters in the retail mecca around the mall.
Clements Bridge Road – A Rare Opportunity
Considering the strength of the Deptford retail market which is centered on the Deptford Mall and the surrounding big box retail shopping centers… It’s rare to find such a large amount of acreage remaining undeveloped so close to the retail core.
I estimate that the large undeveloped parcels total over 64 acres across a handful of tax lots. Going back to when the Indians ruled the land, the properties only really saw a couple of farmhouses and one small commercial building built, all of which were demolished a few years ago.
In 2021 a new Super Wawa opened on the East-side 2.7 acre corner property at Clements Bridge Road and Greenbrier Court.
Now approvals have been granted to Deptford Movies (far West side) and Scott Honda Auto Dealership immediately to the East
By my estimation there would still be prime road frontage commercial land located between the upcoming Honda dealership and Wawa.
Additionally, Inspira Hospital owns lands in the core center of the property. They were going to develop a Medical Center there, but ended up repurposing the former Dick’s Sporting Goods building on Almonesson Road into a medical facility. I do not know Inspira’s future plans for the Clements Bridge Road property.
Deptford Movies – Planning Board
The project owner as well as a variety of experts were on hand to present the project and requested variances. In the audience (besides myself) were two different property owners who spoke about the project during the public session.
The developer presented a well prepared plan which clearly outlined the project and all of the requested variances.
Most of the variances were related to buffers to the neighboring properties such as the residential homes behind the project as well as the chiropractors office.
Along the perimeter of the property considerable woods will remain as a buffer to the residential homes, and the theater will actually be developed at a lower grade further reducing the impact to the homes. A recent addition to the plans is a six-foot high privacy fence along the rear of the property further shielding the homes from the new theater.
One resident who lives behind the movie theater property spoke during the public session. She had attended prior hearings and had previously expressed concerns on the earlier plans, but for the new version of the theater project… she expressed a strong positive opinion regarding the shifted location and inclusion of a privacy fence, seemingly eliminating her concerns.
Also speaking at the meeting was Doctor Brown who is the chiropractor who owns the small property along Clements Bridge Road.
It had been mentioned during the developer’s presentation that the developer had offered to purchase the doctor’s property but that deal was not accepted by the Doctor.
With the new plan the developer has also offered the Doctor a connection point for his office’s parking lot to allow cars to move into the movie theater parking lot… which the developer said would be better access for the chiropractor patients, who will gain the benefit of the traffic signal access.
That being said Doctor Brown politely spoke about his concerns with the project including the buffer distances to his property/building.
Another concern of his is that with Clements Bridge Road being widened with an additional lane in front of his office (to accommodate cars turning into the Caulfield Ave extension), his patients turning left into his lot would cross three lanes of traffic.
Which brought Doctor Brown to the offer to connect the Chiropractor parking area into the movie theater parking lot… he saw that offer as a potential negative, as movie theater customers could more easily park in his lot, or cut through his lot from Clements Bridge Road to get to the theater.
It was mentioned in the meeting that in earlier iterations of the movie theater project, the Doctor sued the developer and the Township regarding its earlier approvals. It would appear based on statements in the meeting that the Doctor lost those lawsuits.
I mention that because while this project is approved by Deptford Township, the developer still needs to workout the intersection changes with Gloucester County. Additionally at the end of his public speaking segment, Doctor Brown did mention that he would be reviewing the approved plans with his attorney.
Links and Location
Deptford Movies – Approved
1729-1795 Clements Bridge Road
Deptford NJ