New 28,000-Square-Foot Shopping Center Planned for Route 9

A 28,000-square-foot, two-story retail shopping plaza will one day make its home on Route 9 South near Riverwood Drive, as the Toms River Planning Board approved the preliminary and final major site plan last month.

The site, which will be built at 1930 Lakewood Road, will be a two-floor shopping center/office space complex. Space for 10 potential businessses is part of the plan, taking up 19,000 square feet.

Some businesses are in consideration for taking up some key real estate on that floor, including a 8,000- to 10,000-square-foot Asian grocery store, a 1,500-square-foot beauty salon and a 2,000-square-foot restaurant.

When asked about which specific stores would be coming to the center, Diversity Investment Group General Manager Jovi Flores did not offer names, stating that there were no signed agreements as of yet.

The second floor, which will take up 9,000 square feet, will be divided into half in the current plan. The design calls for half of that floor to be used for non-medical office space and the other half for a meeting room/auditorium that can seat up to 50 people at once.

Flores pointed out to the planning board that the auditorium would be used only for a local Filipino-American culture organization and the events they hold for their members.

"There is a group of Filipino-Americans in Toms River and we're looking to have activities for the children," said Flores. "[There will also be] some meetings for the organization, usually held in the evenings."

Future events that would take place at the center would not affect shoppers, Flores assured, as they are usually held during off-peak hours of the day when traffic in the area is down.

Currently, there stands a vacant one-family house on the the 3.46 acres of land and its demolition is part of the plan. Construction on the new shopping center is expected to be completed "within a year or two."