Meeting POSTPONED TO FEB 7th per Deptford Township!
Two hotels are proposed for Deptford NJ along Route 41 (Hurffville Rd), but at the end of Harmony Lane.
The property is directly next to two existing hotels. If approved and developed there would be 6 full size hotels within a half mile of each other, all within the extended Deptford Mall / Route 42 area.
The proposal will be reviewed by the Deptford Planning Board on Wednesday January 10th, 2024 at 6:00 PM. That being said, keep in mind this meeting could be cancelled without additional notice (it was cancelled twice in 2023).
42Freeway first covered this project a year ago, almost to the day. Over last year (2023) there were two scheduled Planning Board dates but they did not take place, as additional changes were made to the plans.
Deptford Hotels – Home2 and TownePlace
One proposed hotel for Deptford will be a Home2 Suites (Hilton) and the other a TownePlace Suites (Marriot).
Both of these hotels appear to be catering to the same target audience; longer stay business travelers who are looking for more comforts and space than standard hotel rooms.
The brands each offer amenities such as separate sleeping and living quarters and in-room kitchens. Meeting rooms and fitness areas are also typically included, as well as breakfast. They also offer outdoor grilling areas for guests to use!
The same owner/operator has a TownPlace Suites location in Logan/Swedesboro and on TripAdvisor they have an impressive 4.5 Excellent rating.
The location for the hotels would be directly next to the existing Courtyard Hotel.
While the two proposed hotels will be accessed off of Route 41, they will be further back off of the roadway with the hotels positioned closer to the slight bend of 42Freeway (Route 42).
There are other undeveloped properties along the frontage of Route 41, so hotel customers would access the new hotel property via Harmony Lane. From Rt 41 you would turn on to Harmony Lane and drive about 400 feet before entering the new dual hotel property.
Today harmony lane is a very rural roadway between overgrown trees, but as part of this project proposal it appears the developers will rebuild it into a modern and wider local roadway, supporting the inbound and outbound customer traffic.
Since my article last year, changes have been made to the proposal as each hotel will be slightly smaller than the prior plans, and the placement of the two hotels have been adjusted.
TownPlace will be in line with the existing Courtyard, and Home2 Suites will positioned at an angle from from it’s cousin, positioned in line with the Route 42 Highway.
Each building will be four stories tall and have a combined total of 206 guest rooms. The shared parking lot will offer 208 parking spaces, and the plans also support water management basins and other site improvements.
From my coverage a year ago, this is reduction of 10 rooms across the two properties.
Based on my review of the site plans, the developers have smartly decided to design each hotel building with 100+ rooms each, which then qualifies both hotels to apply for a special Hotel Plenary (liquor) license.
As a background, New Jersey made these large hotel liquor licenses available decades ago because the travel and convention industry expects that larger hotels offer a lounge bar and/or restaurant, and the current New Jersey liquor laws can make it very difficult for developers to find a traditional liquor license available in already commercially successful towns such as Deptford.
For Deptford, both the existing Courtyard hotel (lounge), and the Fairfield Inn (Uno’s) about 1/2 mile away also utilize this type of hotel liquor license.
While I do not have images of the site plans to share, my review of the plans show both of the hotels will utilize their licenses for a more hotel-centric lobby bar experience.
I also noted that the site plans present swimming pools and fitness gyms for each hotel. I believe both pools were indoor, as is frequently the case with the two brands.
The approval of this project requires a few variances to Deptford Township land development ordinances.
There’s a request for smaller setbacks from the property lines and landscaping buffers.
Vehicle considerations include the number of available parking spaces (proposal is slightly lower) and the number of peak vehicle trips per acre (proposal is higher).
Lastly, as is almost always the case there will be approvals related to signage.
I just wanna add in, that in my experience the ordinance definitions for these variances are more so set at a level that would give the Planning Board opportunities to review, discuss and review… and are not always meant to be 100% “written in stone” laws.
The hotels are being proposed by SSN Hotels who are based out of Wilmington DE
Their corporate website shows they have 26 hotel properties in their portfolio, including the Hampton inn and Suites in Swedesboro, TownPlace Suites also in Swedesboro, and a Holiday Inn Express in Voorhees.
The SSN Company traces their start to 1993 when an immigrant family purchased and began operating a small hotel in upstate New York. Since then they have developed more than 12 hotels, oversee 25 select hotels and have five projects in the development pipeline
Links and Locations
Home2 Suites and TownePlace Suites (proposed)
Harmony Lane
Deptford NJ, 08096
42Freeway January 2023 Article (plans have changed since)
Planning Board Meeting
January 10, 2024 at 6:00 p.m.
Deptford Township Municipal Building,
Meeting Room
1011 Cooper Street
Deptford, New Jersey,