The company, which is headed by CEO Tom Darden, specializes inthe redevelopment of brownfield sites. Cherokee is also no strangerto the Garden State: Late last year it was tapped as the leaddeveloper for a $1.2-billion project in the Cramer Hill section ofCamden, which is located immediately south of this city. And anaffiliate, OENJ Cherokee, has redeveloped a major tract ofindustrial land in Elizabeth, NJ, a project that includes theJersey Gardens Mall.

What Cherokee has in mind for this South Jersey city of 35,000is a mix of houses, golf courses, offices, retailing, hotels, acommunity center, recreation and other uses on the contaminated,but mostly unused land dotted with tank farms and vacant industrialbuildings. The company also intends to create wetland restorationzones, waterfront boardwalks and a ferry terminal along a total ofseven miles of shoreline.

Pending state and local approvals, Cherokee hopes to startconstruction on the first residential community by the end of nextyear. No timeline for the build-out of the massive project has beenreleased. "There is definitely some cleanup that needs to be done,"Pennsauken Mayor Rick Taylor said as the designation of thedeveloper and scope of the proposal was unveiled.