Large-Scale, Mixed-Use Development Moves Forward In Gloucester Twp.: What's Next

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, NJ — A large-scale development that will include more than 800 apartments, a grocery store and a strip mall in Gloucester Township — with some modifications.

Visionstream Gloucester Township Campus is a 140-acre mixed-use development that will be built on Peter Cheeseman Road — across from Camden County College.

The complex will have 823 residential units, most of which are senior care or age-restricted. It will also feature several businesses, including a small grocery store, a strip mall, a coffee shop, and a storage building for boats and RVs.

The site was once home to the former Camden Diocese Retreat House but has long been vacant.

Gloucester Township's Zoning Board preliminarily approved the project in early 2024. VisionStream, a Matawan-based developer, had to return to the board with a full site plan as a condition. The board approved the site plan on Wednesday.

VisionStream hopes to break ground late next year and open the facilities in the following timeframes, a representative told Patch:

• Apartments and self-storage building: 2028-29
• Senior care facilities: 2030
• Retail center: 2031-32

Changes To The Original

The Zoning Board also approved some modifications to VisionStream's original plans:

• Retail and coffee shop: Originally planned for a shared 10,650-square-foot facility, the retail space and coffee shop will now be separate. The strip mall will be larger, with 10 units totaling 16,000 square feet. The standalone, 55-seat coffee shop will encompass 4,060 square feet and have a drive-thru.
• Grocery store: reduced from 18,000 square feet to 16,000.
• Self-storage facility: originally approved for 104,300 square feet with 192 storage spaces. It will now be a bit larger at 115,752 feet (three floors, 38,584 square feet per floor), despite a reduction to 158 spaces. Boats, RVs and trailers will be stored in the facility.

The businesses will be to the right of the residential facilities when you're facing from Peter Cheeseman Road. The blue buildings below, from left to right, are the coffee shop, the strip mall, the grocery store and the self-storage building.

The modifications will "allow for a more efficient and productive use of the (p)roperty ... (and) complement the entire project and surrounding area," according to documents submitted to the Zoning Board.

Residential Complexes

Plans involving the residential buildings remain unchanged:

• Assisted living and memory care: a four-story building with 177 beds (units)
• Independent living: 149 apartments in a four-story building.
• Age-restricted apartments: three buildings (each four stories) with a total of 213 units.
• Multi-family apartments: four buildings (four stories each) with a total of 284 units.

Timeline

VisionStream has begun clearing trees from the site since the Zoning Board's initial approval. But the company hopes to break ground on the development in late 2026, says Rich St. Maur, of Coordinated Project Solutions, who is representing the owner.

But they can't predict a start date yet, since the project needs some final approvals.

"We have some follow-up work to do with the state, county and township," Maur told Patch. "We do not anticipate any problems, just a matter of bringing everything into full compliance with these government agencies."

Once they break ground, VisionStream plans to complete the project in four phases:

• Phase 1: initial site work such as clearing, grading and setting up underground utilities (estimate of 12 to 18 months)
• Phase 2: multi-family apartments, age-restricted apartments and the self-storage facility (24 to 30 months)
• Phase 3: senior care centers (16 to 24 months)
• Phase 4: coffee shop, strip mall and grocery store (14 to 18 months)

Each ensuing phase fill begin before the previous phase is completed.