Garden State Park Redevelopment

Cherry Hill, New Jersey February 6, 2002 — Officials in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, have approved a plan for the redevelopment of Garden State Park. It amounts to creating a downtown for one of the largest towns in southern New Jersey. The township Planning Board unanimously agreed on Monday night to approve a revised plan submitted by Realen Properties, the Berwyn, Pennsylvania-based development firm that bought the 225-acre site in December 2000. The racetrack was closed last year and will be torn down.

The plan calls for 1191 homes -- about 600 fewer than originally proposed. There would be two big-box stores instead of three, and some apartments will go above retail shops.

The plan may have to be amended, though, if the state Supreme Court rules for an advocacy group that wants one-fifth of the residences in the project set aside for affordable housing.

Author: 6 ABC