Cherry Hill Township is looking to make improvements to a property owned by Victory Refrigeration on Woodcrest Road.
The township’s planning board voted on Oct. 21 to recommend that Township Council designate the property as an area in need of redevelopment, according to criteria set forth by the state.
The resolution is expected to be on the agenda for a future Council meeting.
The planning board conducted this vote after Robert Melvin of GroupMelvinDesign made a presentation.
“Our redevelopment planner basically had to prove that it does meet the criteria,” said Bridget Palmer, the director of communications for Cherry Hill Township.
Melvin’s investigation revealed that the property met two of the eight criteria for redevelopment. One was that the property was obsolete; the other is that it is underutilized. Only one of the eight criteria listed by the state needs to be met to declare a property in need of redevelopment.
The Victory Refrigeration property includes an outdated manufacturing plant that the township stated is not utilized frequently anymore.
Following a public hearing on the matter, the criteria were all that the planning board needed to push the study to Council.
The possible redevelopment of Victory Refrigeration is not something new. The idea of redeveloping the property started in June, when Council passed a resolution that asked the planning board to perform a preliminary investigation into the property.
“This was the site that was on our radar for a while,” Palmer said.
Since then, the township has had a bit of an image as far as what it wants the property to turn into. Subaru of America has mentioned to the township that it was looking for a new headquarter and the Victory Refrigeration property has been brought up in discussion.
The property is ideal for many companies because of its close proximity to the PATCO High-Speed Line as well as I-295 and the New Jersey Turnpike.
Regardless of whether Subaru or other companies choose to eventually move there, Palmer said the township is looking to transform the area into a modern office space for various companies.
“Regardless of whether Subaru wants their headquarters there, we want it to be a first-class corporate campus,” Palmer said. “Something we really don’t have is a marquee corporate center.”
The use of the property will ultimately be determined by the redevelopment plan, which is a few steps away from happening.
If Council passes a resolution that declares the Victory Refrigeration property an area in need of redevelopment, the project will go back to the planning board.
The planning board will then write a redevelopment plan that will more specifically designate what the property will be used for.
