Cherry Hill, Evesham/Marlton, Medford, Medford Lakes, Moorestown, Mount Laurel, Voorhees and elsewhere near the iconic state highways of Routes 70 and 73.
A 125-room hotel at the Funplex amusement and water park complex in Mount Laurel was approved by the Mount Laurel Planning Board on Thursday night.
The board voted unanimously to approve plans by the Falls Group of Cherry Hill to build the combination Hawthorn suites and LaQuinta hotel on the nearly 28-acre site. The hotel will be toward the front of the property and face Route 38.
Funplex had requested five signs, but Mount Laurel, which is strict about commercial signs, granted only two.
The hotel, estimated by Funplex CEO Brian Williams to cost between $10 million and $12 million to build, will have 68 LaQuinta rooms and 57 Hawthorn suites. He told 70and73.com the goal is to open the hotel in summer 2022.
Falls Group application to the Mount Laurel Planning Board
The project will be the company's latest addition in a building boom that includes a 50% expansion of its water park. The $3.5-million addition of water attractions is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend, Williams said.
"There's success around the country in a lot of markets with hotels on amusement park properties," Williams told 70and73.com in a recent interview. The company also operates an amusement and water park in East Hanover, Morris County, and expects to open a smaller one in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in May.
Williams said the new hotel will allow Funplex to extend its marketing reach to more-distant markets such as New York City and Westchester County.
