Route 70 develops in Cherry Hill
Long gone are the days of the Ellisburg Circle, which lasted until the early 1990’s.
That traffic trauma has since been replaced, leaving Kings Highway disjointed from north to south. However, it does allow for motorists to travel continuously along Route 70.
While we can’t entirely say Route 70 isn’t always a traffic headache, it does have one thing going for it — it’s about to become much less of an eyesore.
The seven-acre space on Brace Road at Route 70 is in the process of a major renovation. It has remained vacant since 2008 when National Wholesale Liquidators closed.
In late April, the Cherry Hill Planning Board approved the final major site plan for Lourdes Health System, which is already moving forward with its plans to retrofit the building into a 54,000 square-foot ambulatory care center.
Over the past four decades, 1 Brace Road has also served as a supermarket and department store.
The new Lourdes facility, which is being developed by Cherry Hill-based Rosewood Real Estate Enterprises, will be a modern, state-of-the-art center, which will serve as the primary office location for Lourdes Cardiology Services.
“Our goal as a health-care provider is to keep patients out of the hospital and closer to home,” said Alexander J. Hatala, president and CEO of Lourdes Health System. “The new ambulatory care facility will allow us to achieve this goal by expanding health-care services in the South Jersey community so that patients can focus on many facets of their health in one central location.”
The facility will also house physicians offices for cardiothoracic surgery and vascular surgery services, along with orthopedics, sports medicine, rheumatology and podiatry.
Developers also said they are happy to see the building’s progress.
“We are proud to be working with Lourdes on this significant redevelopment project,” said Joe Gonnelli, president of Rosewood Real Estate Enterprises. “Not only will the new facility aesthetically transform what has long been an uncared for, abandoned lot, but the new space will add tremendous value to the Cherry Hill community and surrounding areas by bringing quality health care right into their back yard.”
Lourdes plans to open its doors in early 2013.
Mayor Chuck Cahn said he is happy to see the project come to fruition.
“Lourdes Medical Center’s redevelopment of this property is a prime example of how Cherry Hill is open for business,” Cahn said. “We are thrilled to welcome this new Lourdes location, which will provide a much-needed medical facility to serve our residents.”
The new Lourdes facility will also host services such as general radiology, CT, MRI, dexa scan, mammography and ultrasound; non-invasive heart testing, including echo/stress testing and nuclear stress testing; cardiac rehabilitation and physical therapy; holistic therapies like massage and acupuncture, along with laboratory services.
Cahn said he hopes this new addition will spur future development in the township.
“My administration has focused on redeveloping our vacant properties and continues to streamline our Community Development operations to encourage more businesses to choose Cherry Hill,” Cahn said.
