New Mall Gets the Green Light

The seven-acre lot has been empty for some 20 years, but the parcel directly across Main Street from the entrance to the historic Ocean Grove section of Neptune Twp. will get new commercial life in the form of a retail strip.

Developer West Grove Square Associates, Old Bridge, NJ has received the necessary variances to get the shopping center project underway. West Grove Square will have some 54,000 sf of space. Construction will be underway in late fall, with an opening slated for next summer.

The developer has freestanding sites totaling 19,000 sf committed to Burger King, an Eckerd’s drug store and an unnamed bank. The rest of the space will comprise a strip, with a Blockbuster video store already committed.

Prior to approval of the project, the site had to be remediated because of petroleum contamination. The NJ Department of Environmental Protection has since given its approval.