GLASSBORO, NJ-The next wave of construction on masterredeveloper Sora Holding's $300-million Rowan Boulevardrevitalization project is about to get underway as a MarriottCourtyard hotel and conference center and the first two mixed-useretail buildings begin construction in early September.

The five-story hotel will offer 100 rooms, including eightsuites and a total of 2,654 square feet of meeting space. Therewill also be an adjacent 6,000-square-foot restaurant. Constructionis expected to wrap up by winter 2011. The first mixed-use buildingwill have 22,000 square feet of retail space on its ground floorand housing and multipurpose space for Rowan University honorsstudents on its upper floors, while the second building will have10,000 square feet of retail and a 1,218-square-foot multi-levelparking garage serving the hotel, retail shops and universitystudents.

In August 2009, construction was completed on Rowan Boulevard’sPhase I, with new Rowan University student housing, andconstruction is currently underway on a 36,000-square-foot Barnes& Noble Collegiate Superstore--which should be completed byNovember 2010--and Phase II of student housing for another 324students--which will wrap up in early August. "The boulevard isdestined to be a new retail hub for thousands of Rowan Universitystudents and hundreds of thousands of residents in Glassboro andthe surrounding region," says Greg Filipek, a principal withSora.