A concept plan of what the former mall would look like in the future.
Voorhees Township officials rejoiced when a developer last year unveiled an ambitious strategy to revitalize the former Echelon Mall property by filling its empty parking lots with hundreds of residences.
For one thing, the town's latest commitment for affordable housing — plans that many New Jersey municipalities struggle with — would be partly fulfilled because 110 of the 317 townhouses for sale and rental apartments would be offered as affordable.
The developer, Hoboken Brownstone Company, also would add new commercial and entertainment destinations inside the 56-year-old mall property, which continues to be shut down from a 2024 fire. Only Boscov's, Voorhees municipal offices and a dental clinic are operating.
"For decades, the Echelon Mall was the heartbeat of our community — a place where families gathered, friendships were built, and memories were made," Mayor Michael Mignogna said in a statement about the developer's plans. "While it has stood silent for too long, this redevelopment gives us the opportunity to bring that heartbeat back."
That hope for a heartbeat straight-lined this summer when the New Jersey Economic Development Authority "paused" its Aspire grants that helped finance commercial and real estate projects. Hoboken Brownstone's George Vallone, who said he needed $90 million in Aspire funds for a parking garage and to catch up on deferred maintenance in the mall building, later informed Voorhees the project was dead.
"They will tell you that it wasn't financially beneficial to them without the tax credit" through Aspire, Voorhees Township Administrator Stephen J. Steglik said in an interview Thursday. Vallone could not be reached for comment.
Steglik said a revival would require another developer to come in with similar plans and purchase the property from Namdar Realty Group of Long Island, as Hoboken Brownstone had intended.
Until Namdar or a new owner makes repairs from the fire damage, the mall property will continue to sit empty, Steglik said. "They still haven't done what they're supposed to fix" the issues, he said of the owner.
Steglik said the combination of retail and residential at what is now called the Voorhees Town Center Mall was what Township officials envisioned in the redevelopment plan.
"We haven't heard anything from Namdar or anybody else," Steglik said.Â
If Vallone's vision had worked, the parking lots consumed by apartments and townhouses would have been replaced with a multi-level garage with 1,300 to 1,500 spaces.
Spread over the mall property would have been 207 market-rate townhouses, 50 affordable for-sale townhouses and 60 affordable rental apartments.
More than 38,000 square feet of reinvigorated commercial and entertainment space would have filled the mall space. The developer also planned to donate 30,000 square feet of indoor space to the Township for community use.Â
