Part of the former Holly Ravine Farm property in Cherry Hill on Springdale Road, across from ShopRite and near the intersection of Evesham Road.
Beginning in the 1920s, a dairy farm operated at Springdale and Evesham roads in Cherry Hill, later adding the iconic Holly Ravine Farm Cowtail Bar where generations of new suburbanites licked ice cream cones.
Now a developer proposes to turn the 23-acre property into 175 independent- and assisted-living apartments for seniors.
The property borders The Legacy Club at Woodcrest golf course and the Holly Ravine Plaza, where a CVS, Wawa and other stores stand on the site of the old Cowtail Bar, which closed in 1989.
Caddis Healthcare Real Estate of Dallas is scheduled to appear before the Township Zoning Board of Adjustment on April 20 in a meeting that begins with a caucus at 7 p.m. A use variance for the R-2 Residential Zone, a variance to allow buildings 52½ feet high where a maximum of 35 feet is permitted, other variances and preliminary and final major site plan approvals are sought by the developer.
The Heartis Senior Living project would have a total of 226 beds, with 85 independent-living units, 66 assisted-living units and 24 memory-care units, according to Caddis' application on file with the Township.
A rendering of Caddis' Heartis Senior Living project.
Caddis anticipated the question of what happens to the trees in a tree-sensitive community that last year approved a strict ordinance to prevent developers from clear-cutting mature trees.
"There are over 1,000 trees across the nearly 23 acres, but this development only anticipates the removal of 36," according to Caddis testimony on file with the Township. "The proposed landscaping plan adds back an additional 418 trees, which far exceeds the current Cherry Hill Tree Ordinance."
The developer noted that its building was located to feature "the large, beautiful 100-plus-year-old beech tree in our north courtyard."
"The site was designed to approximately 52.4% open space coverage where the zoning ordinance only requires 25%. The site also includes over 10 acres of protected wetlands so that the overall open area will exceed 75% of the site," the Caddis application states.
The Holly Ravine property is outlined in orange. The shopping center in the lower right corner of the property once was the Cowtail Bar and Moo Zoo. The preserved Saddlehill farm, formerly Stafford farm, is in the lower right, just over the Voorhees border. More than 1,000 trees exist on the land.
Caddis' investment rationale states that the "location for Heartis Cherry Hill was chosen for its ability to fill a void in an under-served market for those residents wanting to stay in Cherry Hill."
The senior living facility would employ between 45 and 50 people and would have a minimal impact on traffic, according to the developer's traffic projection.Â
Caddis has built 21 senior living facilities in seven states and now manages 16 of them, according to the application. Two are in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia suburbs.
