Robert Koch, chairman of Fugleberg Koch Architects, presented the plan for redevelopment of the Moorestown Mall to the Moorestown appearance committee at their Oct. 20 meeting.
The Moorestown Mall is a property of the Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT.) According to the official website for PREIT, a redevelopment project has been approved for the mall that will feature a multi-family complex and include 375 apartments, 20 percent of which will be affordable housing. In 2023, Cooper University Health Care will open a specialty care facility in the former Sears location occupying over 165,000 feet.
“Our goal is to create a human oasis (in this corner),” said Koch. “PREIT has already begun a very aggressive end, at the other corner, the southwest corner, in trying to refactor, reface and reorient the buildings, activities and functions. So, it’s going to be much more of an entertainment kind of zone as well.”
The mall and the rental community, which according to Koch will be named Pearl, will be separated by Boscov’s and include amenities such as activity courtyards for residents that will focus on health and fitness, mediation, recreation and entertainment. According to Koch, there will be three exterior oriented garden courts and two completely enclosed interior garden courts. Multiple elevators will also be all throughout the four-story parking deck.
“The garage has park elevators, including freight elevators, on each corner of the parking deck so no resident is any more than 150 feet from an elevator to their door,” Koch noted. “That is a convenience feature that is important when you get into this kind of higher density solution.”
According to Koch, there is a population of affordable units within the footprint of the project that are not pocketed or clustered in some less desirable location.
“We have both market rate and affordable residents living in an inclusionary way in a common floor plate on every level of the building,” he said.
Each living unit will be equipped with island kitchens, dressing bathrooms that are complete with extra cabinetry and counter space, and most importantly, at-home workspaces.
“In today’s population, where working at home has become a bigger and bigger part of the average young executive’s life, they will have places where they can work at home in a defined space that’s not open to the public, but it’s sort of a hideaway den or study that gives them the ability to work in private,” said Koch.
According to Koch, there will also be premium units and luxury units available. All the two-bedroom plans or three-bedroom plans are split plans, each one is a two-bath unit and most of the two-bedroom units are designed for double adult occupancy as well as family use.
The facility will also feature on site management and maintenance capabilities and have access-controlled security systems and television monitoring. Every entry point into the building and every unit will also be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.)
Koch is excited for residents to see the finished project.
“It is not uncommon for us to take advantage of the public forms at the appropriate time to make the community aware of the vision of what’s being done and the benefits we think it will bring to the community at large,” he noted.
