The long awaited Wawa at 5-Points intersection in Washington Township has received approval from Gloucester County 2 weeks ago. This was the final step before construction could start on the convenience store and gas station.
This week some construction equipment arrived at the site, and dirt moving has been taking place.
This resulted in a number of messages to me “Hey, there are people with blueprints and construction equipment at the Wawa site!”
Well this is just a very early step in the process but yes this is a real sign the Wawa project is ramping up to start.
That being said the actual Wawa development team has not arrived on site yet, but in a few more weeks that is expected to change!
I’ve been in communication with the developer of the Wawa who promises me more details on timelines soon, but keep reading for additional information that I have now.
Specifically on the location, the planned Wawa property is where Egg Harbor Rd meets the large intersections of Rt 47 and 41. Locally this is known as “5-Points”.
At the same intersection the Seven Star Diner sits ACROSS from where the Wawa will be developed.
A Burger King was also approved for the newly made large property (to sit next to Wawa).
This land for this project became available to develop the Wawa after the relocation of Blackwood-Barnsboro Road. The roadway was bent to connect at Egg Harbor Rd further away from the busy 5-pts intersection, to improve traffic situations waiting at the traffic signal.
This realignment also created a much larger single plot of land at the intersection for the development.
While JPC is not building the Wawa building, they are working on other projects adjacent to the lots. A larger retail presence is expected to run down Egg Harbor, as well as redevelopment of their large County Conservation mulch business property. We are working on details to update readers.
Wawa at 5-Points Activity at the Site
This week a small construction crew appeared at the site but this is not the Wawa building developer’s crew just yet. Although we expect them on site in several weeks.
The team at the property is from local construction firm JPC Group who developed the Blackwood-Barnsboro Rd realignment, and for now still own the land that the Wawa will be built on.
It appears they are smooth grading and preparing the ground surface so that they can turn the project over to the Wawa development team.
Initially there are targeting the area where the old section of Blackwood-Barnsboro Rd was removed (a street light pole and road sign are still in the middle of property, with no road there)
Full Development Timeline to Come Soon
I am in communication with the developer for this upcoming Wawa location.
From County documents I knew the project was fully approved but I was holding off on sharing with readers for a bit, as the developer offered to provide me a better development timeline in a few weeks. They needed to adjust planning to today’s conditions.
But I didn’t expect other construction crews to be at the site this past week! As I mentioned this prompted a lot of folks to reach out to me at 42Freeway.
As a very rough timeline the Wawa Development team should start development in the 4th quarter of this year, with the building be turned over to Wawa in the first quarter of 2023. Wawa would then plan their own internal inventory, training and opening schedule which should follow soon after.
Wawa at 5-Points Eagerly Anticipated
I mentioned this in my recent update post on the Franklinville Wawa that sometimes these projects get presented, approved and developed in less than 2 years. Sometimes it takes 2 decades.
For the Washington Township 5-Pts Wawa, it first came into our radar in November of 2018 when I noticed a real estate listing for additional lots at the property, and the Wawa was clearly indicated as being part of the project.
A year later the Wawa project was approved by Washington Township. (November 2019)
Now it has been almost 3 years before the final approval was given.
It seems a key challenge was gaining approval from the County… which I believe to be more related to aspects of the development project were still in flux (such as the Burger King).
I recently sat in on a Gloucester County Land Use Board meeting just to learn more about the process.
The county’s involvement comes into play when a project accesses a County road as an entrance point.
While the County approval is focused on that access, they still require full and final site plans to be completed as well specific facts about the site usage.
I had previously seen County documents on the project approval status and it seemed that not all of the facets of the project were crisply known, and could be shared with the County.
Then of course everything has to be reviewed and signed by legal representatives. So it takes time.
So the TLDR of this whole post is: this is an early confirmation that the Wawa is fully approved and is coming, and we should see activity ramp up in a few weeks.
The guys at the development company in charge of this Wawa have been very responsive to me and I expect to have more details shortly.
My apologies to the MANY who reached out to me over the last few weeks asking about the status of this project, and I was not able to respond.
Links And Location
Proposed Wawa at 5 Points Intersection Washington Township
Egg Harbor Road at 5-Points
Washington Township New Jersey
- February 10, 2022: Wawa at 5-Points Washington Township Project is Still Active. An Update
- April 30, 2021: Super Wawas: Deptford Building Starts, Washington Township 5-Points Still Working On Approvals
- May 17, 2020: Blackwood-Barnsboro Road at 5-Points Relocation Explained Video. Change Makes Room for new Super Wawa!
- April 17, 2020: Blackwood-Barnsboro Road at 5-Points Reconfiguration Work has Started, Ahead of New Super Wawa Development (Washington Twp)
- February 2, 2020: Super Wawa at 5 Points Washington Township Approved in November. Unnamed Fast Food Building Also
- November 29, 2018: Super Wawa Planned for 5-Points Washington Township