269,000-SF Retail Project Gets Site Plan Approval

STAFFORD TWP., NJ-Township officials have approved plans offered by the Walters Group for the 269,000-sf retail component within the larger Stafford Park mixed-use development here. Stafford Park is a redevelopment of the former Stafford Business Park in this Ocean County community. A portion of the business park has been in use as a landfill.

According to Joseph Del Duca, a partner of the Barnegat-based Walters Group, the site plan for the retail component calls for "a major national discount department store to be the main anchor," along with three additional anchors, eight mid-sized retail tenants and a dozen smaller boutiques and restaurants. "We've had a tremendous amount of interest and letters of interest from a wide variety of national retailers," Del Duca says. "We expect to reach a number of agreements now that the site plan has been approved and retailers can finalize their plans."

Walters was named the designated redeveloper of the 361-acre site by the township in 2004. Besides the central retail component, the general site plan calls for 565 age-restricted homes, 112 affordable apartments, a recreation component that will include a 66,000-sf twin ice rink, 25,000 sf of office space and a Main Street-style village center with an additional 70,000 sf of retail and restaurant space.

"The village center retail area will have many of the characteristics of the lifestyle centers that are popular today," Del Duca says. "We will have upscale regional and national restaurants that will be easily accessible to both residents and visitors."

As reported by GlobeSt.com, those general plans for the property were approved in July by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, a state agency, after a review process that involved the New Jersey DEP. The local planning board has also given its preliminary approval for the general development plan, with final approval expected in October. The closure of the landfill is scheduled to begin in December, with traffic improvements slated to start in January.

The site is at Exit 63 of the Garden State Parkway and is situated within the Pinelands Regional Growth Area. It's bordered on two sides by the Stafford Forge Wildlife Management Area.