According to a published report, township officials will shortly unveil a proposal to rezone the industrial tract for mixed uses, specifically targeting retail stores, restaurants and professional offices. GlobeSt.com has learned that the unveiling of the proposal could come within the next two weeks. A spokesman for the township declined to comment on the proposal or a possible release date, but did confirm that township engineers, planners and attorneys were studying the proposal. Lakewood Mayor Charles Cunliffe has stated publicly that he would like to see such a project move forward.

The site itself is owned by Dov Gluck a locally based developer and former head of the Lakewood Industrial Commission, the spokesman confirms. Gluck could not be reached for comment. Whether Gluck or a third-party developer would actually develop the project could not be confirmed.

If the proposal does move forward, it would feed off the ballpark during the baseball season, and the sprawling Lakewood Industrial Park, which has thousands of workers, year-round. It would also be a focal point for the ongoing development of this community's Cedarbridge Ave. corridor.

Along those lines, locally based Cedarbridge Development Corp.'s plan to develop the 1.5 million-sf Cedarbridge Corporate Campus nearby appears to be moving forward. First proposed more than three years ago, the plan has been stuck in idle, mostly owing to economic factors. Now, however, Cedarbridge Development has received planning board approval for three 40,000-sf speculative buildings.

Also nearby is Washington Square, a new upscale apartment and commercial complex near the stadium. That project is scheduled to be completed next spring. The 51-acre site slated for rezoning is also part of this community's urban enterprise zone, confirms Russell Corby, the zone's general manager.