Moorestown Mall Rehabilitation Talks Delayed, Mayor Says

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown Council will not discuss a proposed resolution to declare part of the mall as an area in need of rehabilitation after learning of the current owner’s intentions to sell it, Mayor Nicole Gillespie said on Wednesday.

At its meeting on Feb. 24, council began discussions about the possibility of designating the Moorestown Mall as an area in need of rehabilitation. That discussion was to be continued until the March 9 meeting amid concerns from the public that not all information was being shared with them.

The discussion began after Moorestown Council approved a proposed ordinance to establish an overlay zone for the Moorestown Mall and the K-Mart Shopping Center to allow for homes on those properties. This is being done to help the township meet their affordable housing obligations. Read more here: Moorestown Mall May Be Deemed An Area In Need Of Rehabilitation

Later that week, it was reported that Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) was planning to sell and leaseback the Moorestown Mall. PREIT owns the malls in Moorestown, Cherry Hill and Vineland, and has an interest in the Gloucester Premium Outlets. Read more here: South Jersey Mall Owner Lost $38.2M In 2019: Report

“We didn’t know that they planned on selling, and we felt that’s fairly significant,” Gillespie said. “ … It came as a big surprise to all of us. No one knew that was coming. Not knowing who might own it is a big unknown.”

The township needed the ordinance passed in time for its compliance hearing next week, but officials have said all along that the contents of that proposal are a placeholder.

The overlay zoning allows for the possibility of a mixed-use purpose for the property, adding housing units to the existing business structure.

It allows for up to 1,065 units, but officials have said it is not their intention to put that many units on the property. There has also been contention over possible hotel space.

The details can be worked out after the hearing, in which the township must show it is in compliance with its settlement with Fair Share Housing to satisfy its affordable housing obligations by 2025, council members have said.

For their part, PREIT told nj.com theydon’t expect any change in operations or managementof the property.

PREIT has also filed an objection to the portion of the township’s affordable housing plan that includes the mall.

Gillespie said the township has been in discussions with PREIT since learning that it intends to sell the mall, but couldn’t elaborate on what was said.

The township has been in discussion with the mall for several months. Officials decided to pursue the “area in need of rehabilitation” designation as opposed to labelling it an “area in need of redevelopment.”

The two Republican members of the five-member township council opposed the proposal because they felt it was saying council believed the mall was an area in need of rehabilitation, taking the power to decide that away from the planning board. Councilwoman Victoria Napolitano said she was opposed to the idea of designating the mall as an area in need of rehabilitation altogether.

The idea became possible last year when New Jersey’s redevelopment law was amended to make it possible for shopping centers and office parks that have seen significant vacancies for at least two years to be deemed areas in need of redevelopment. Designating an area in need of rehabilitation is part of the redevelopment law.

According to the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association, an area is designated as in need of redevelopment when structures need upgrading and improving, and uses appropriate to a specific area are introduced. An area is designated as in need of rehabilitation when existing structures are rebuilt to eliminate substandard structural or housing conditions, and to arrest the deterioration of the area.

Designating an area in need of redevelopment allows entities to use eminent domain, which allows governments to seize private property for public use, with compensation.
Designating an area in need of rehabilitation allows entities to offer tax abatements for up to five years. Gillespie said tax abatements are not required.

A tax abatement is a temporary reduction or elimination of property taxes. Municipalities use them to entice developers into their town, offering a complete elimination of taxes in the first year and slowly building so that the owner of the property is eventually paying full property taxes due.

There are also specific standards for each designation that an area must meet. According to the American Planning Association, an area is considered in need of rehabilitation when:

• A significant portion of the structure is deteriorated or in substandard condition and there is a pattern of vacancy, abandonment or underutilization, and the property is behind in paying taxes; and
• More than half the housing stock or the water and sewer infrastructure is at least 50 years old.

Redevelopment areas have more criteria, including unsafe and untenable living conditions. All criteria can be seen here.

The American Planning Association is an organization representing the field of urban planning in the United States. It calls itself the largest organization of professional planners in the country.

For years, Macy's, Sears and Lord & Taylor stood firm at the mall. However, those stores have all announced they are leaving in the last few years. PREIT has made moves to bring the mall in a new direction, with the addition of businesses such as Joe Italiano's Maplewood, Hash House A Go Go and The Yard House. The spot where Macy's formerly stood will house Sierra and HomeSense.

Moorestown’s compliance hearing will take place March 11. The next council meeting is Monday night at town hall, 111 West Second Street.