Developer wants to add more shops to Cherry Hill's Garden State Park

More retailers could soon be coming to Cherry Hill's Garden State Park development, one of the most popular shopping spots along the Haddonfield Road corridor.

The latest proposal from the main developer of the site would add several retailers and a restaurant that would occupy about 81,000 square feet, said John Takina, director of real estate development for M&M Realty Partners. He declined to identify the possible tenants.

"We've had great demand for retailers large and small," Takina said Thursday. "It's a place where higher-end lifestyle tenants would like to be."

The township Planning Board is scheduled to hold a hearing Monday night to discuss the proposal for the Park Place phase of the project. It is expected to make a recommendation to the Township Council

A plan to build a Costco store near the entrance of the development on Route 70 touched off a firestorm. The plan was approved, but another uproar erupted when the township approved an ordinance allowing gas stations in certain business zones. Costco asked to add a gas station to its proposed 158,000-square-foot store. An appeal by the owner of the ShopRite supermarket in the nearby Garden State Pavilions is pending in court.

Longtime resident Dan Cirucci, who lives in the Plaza Grande condominiums at Garden State Park, said the additional tenants would boost the commercial tax base, but would likely pose an inconvenience for shoppers and pedestrians in residential areas near the shopping complex.

"We don't want a situation where businesses are leaving Cherry Hill," he said. "The downside is that there's going to be further congestion here."

Takina said parking spaces will be added and an existing parking deck should help meet demand. He urged residents to attend the public hearing to get more details about the proposal, which received preliminary approval last year.

The additions would largely complete the retail footprint of the shopping complex, with several projects pending, including the Costco store, Takina said. Construction would begin shortly with the new stores expected to open in 2019. A 10-acre parcel along Route 70 owned by another developer is the only parcel that has not been designated for development, he said.

"I don't think we're finished, but we're coming closer," he said. "This is kind of one of the final pieces."

Takina said the developer wants to add about 15,000 square feet of retail space near DSW Shoes, where a parking lot currently sits. Two tenants may be added there, he said. The proposal also calls for adding 66,523 square feet next to Pier One and PNC Bank for five new tenants, including a free-standing retailer and a restaurant, he said.

The shopping plaza rose on the site of the old Garden State Park racetrack more than a decade ago.  Developers have transformed the tract of hundreds of acres where horse racing once reigned into a bustling retail and housing complex with stores, restaurants, and a retirement village.

Back then, there were high hopes that the parcel, vacant for several years after the racetrack closed in 2001, would provide a spot for a downtown for the suburb. There were ambitious plans for a walkable community of residences, shop-lined main streets, office space, and lush parks.

Those hopes were dashed with new developers, several plan revisions, and the crippling recession in 2008. Gone, too, was a demand for one million square feet of office space or a hotel on Garden Park Boulevard. When the economy rebounded, Cherry Hill's road system, with access to I-295 and Routes 70 and 38, and a population with a healthy disposable income, made the area desirable for developers.

"The plan has evolved over the years," said Mayor Chuck Cahn. "What it is today is a very successful retail plan. If it was just an empty parcel, we'd be complaining, 'Look at the opportunity we lost.'"

Some locals have dubbed the stretch from the Cherry Hill Mall to Garden State Park the "Golden Mile." A developer recently completed a clubhouse, and sleek apartment buildings for those 55 and over recently opened with plans that call for more than 600 units and condos.

Takina said the Piscataway-based M&M Partners plans to submit an application by this summer to add restaurants. The developer, which controls about two-thirds of Garden State Park, has not ruled out the possibility of a hotel, he said.

"We're excited by how much is going on there," Takina said.