Moorestown Mall issued an update on its development projects and new tenants earlier this month, including an apartment complex and medical facility.
Construction continues at Cooper University Health Care as it prepares for its opening later this year and underutilized parking space on the Boscov’s side of the mall is being converted to a four-story, 375-unit apartment complex called The Pearl by Bel Canto.
According to the Courier Post, Moorestown’s planning board advanced a developer’s application last year for The Pearl – 20 percent of which will be affordable housing – that will rise in the corner of the parking lot between Nixon Drive and Boscov’s. The first of seven buildings will include studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom units, 75 of them affordable units dispersed throughout the building.
A 672-space parking garage will initially provide 37 spots for electric vehicles, with 72 more pre-wired for future use. The Pearl plan includes two clubhouses and two “amenity courtyards” with pool and passive recreation areas.
Cooper will open at the former Sears location, and at more than 165,000 square feet, the specialty-care facility will be dedicated to wellness; radiology; digestive health; and cardiac care, among other specialties. It is expected to employ more than 700 doctors treating up to 2,000 patients daily.
New mall tenants expected by fall include Banfield Pet Hospital; Vixen Couture; Nature’s Gift Shoppe; Designed For You Event Decor & Planning; DD’s Beauty and Accessories; and Curvaceous Fashionistas, a one-stop-shop for plus-size women’s fashion.
“Of course, everyone is here to work for themselves and to make money, but my real story is I want to see us feel good and look good,” said Curvaceous Fashionistas owner Cheryl Jones.
Before she launched Curvaceous Fashionistas, Jones worked at PHH Mortgage in Mount Laurel and as a real estate agent in Delaware. A few years later, she opened her own food truck, got a degree in culinary arts, studied hospitality business management and worked as a retail manager. Those experiences led to her opening a kiosk at the Moorestown Mall.
Switching career paths has been a journey for Jones, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I think if you go back to school as an older individual, your mindset is clearer,” she noted. “You’re going to do your homework. You want to learn, you’re excited, and I was very excited to learn something new …
“It was good (and) I was open to it,” Jones added. “I wanted to work for myself.”
Curvaceous Fashionistas opens on Saturday, Aug. 5, and its owner is excited to bring her store to the mall and the community.
“ … I specialize in plus-size fashion,” she said. “You can walk through the door, and you’ll never be judged. It’s a judge-free zone. There’s something for everybody. Everyone’s welcome.”
