Bringing the ‘hearbeat back’

Voorhees Town Center may be getting new life.

The township committee has approved a redevelopment agreement with a North Jersey developer that proposes town homes and apartments; a parking garage; and new public areas, among other improvements.

Town Center has struggled for years in the shadow of the former Echelon Mall, which lost its cachet as a shopping mecca beginning almost a decade ago with the exits of anchor stores like Macy’s. The mall’s general decline worsened after a 2024 fire and the recent closing of the Iron Hill Brewery.

But the area is steeped in history. The Echelon Airfield on 200 acres of open land was incorporated by Rogers and Jeannette Smith in 1944, and featured three grass runways for 20 small planes. It was eventually renamed and closed in 1965.

The area was transformed by the Rouse Company, which built a planned community of apartments, condominiums, office space and a YMCA, with the mall as its centerpiece. Opened in 1970 with major department stores Lit Brothers and Strawbridge and Clothier, the mall – including its food court – was thriving by the mid-1980s.

Renamed the Voorhees Town Center in 2007, the mall area continued its decline, and is now a ghostly shell of itself. On a recent afternoon this month, its huge parking lots were mostly empty, except at Boscov’s (the only remaining anchor store); Modax Furniture Outlet, which opened in 2023 in the former Macy’s; Growing Smiles; the Center for Neurological and Neurodevelopmental Health; and the township building, formerly Macy’s.

All of them have outside exits.

The devastating fire two years ago started in the food court, forcing it and all interior shops and offices to close, as indicated by the locked doors and sign posted by the township at the restaurant area entrance. Some of the spaces now empty for nearly two years include the meeting location for the Alicia Rose Victorious Foundation; the Angel Brow bar; and Amazon Locker-Daphne.

Yet, there is now hope. On Oct. 27, the township committee approved the redevelopment plan from North Jersey-based developer Hoboken Brownstone Company.

“This project marks a new beginning for Voorhees and the first step in redeveloping the mall,” Mayor Michael R. Mignogna noted on the township website. “For decades, the Echelon Mall was the heartbeat of our community – a place where families gathered, friendships were built, and memories were made.

“While it has stood silent for too long, this redevelopment gives us the opportunity to bring that heartbeat back,” he added. “We look forward to working with Hoboken Brownstone to reimagine this space as a vibrant center of life, energy, and connection for all who call Voorhees home.”

Hoboken Brownstone’s president, George Vallone, said the project’s details include 207 market-rate town homes, 50 affordable town homes and 60 affordable apartments, a multi-level parking garage, more than 38,000 square feet of new commercial and entertainment space and public gathering areas like bike paths.

“This project creates housing options for young families and seniors, brings new business to our community and strengthens our tax base – all while maintaining the character and quality of life our residents value,” Mignogna explained.

But Vallone stressed that the plan hinges on one thing: the approval of a $90-million tax credit through the New Jersey Aspire Program for residential, mixed-use and commercial redevelopments that funds up to 60% of eligible costs for qualified, distressed areas.

Under Aspire, developers have to show that the projects are not economically feasible without the tax credit and provide their own significant capital. A decision on Hoboken Brownstone’s application is expected in a few months, Vallone said.

The New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJDEA) administers the Aspire Program, created by the state’s Economic Recovery Act of 2020 to encourage sustainable, long-term development. If Hoboken Brownstone’s tax credit application is approved by the authority, a former mall built on an airfield could be resurrected.