If all nine listed hotels turn over
What was reported
- The township wants to declare the Rodeway Inn on Route 73 and the Red Roof Inn on Fellowship Road condemnation redevelopment areas, acquire them, and pick a redeveloper
- The affordable housing plan pencils 86 units at the Rodeway site and 90 at the Red Roof; consultant studies of 600-plus pages each cite dozens of code, fire and police violations
- If the Planning Board accepts the studies, the township starts negotiating to buy; a condemnation designation carries the power of eminent domain
The story
Mount Laurel wants to name the Rodeway Inn on Route 73 and the Red Roof Inn on Fellowship Road condemnation redevelopment areas, acquire both properties, and select a redeveloper to build affordable housing on them. The Rodeway sits on about 2.4 acres at 1132 Route 73 southbound and opened in 1976 as the 90-room McIntosh Inn. The Red Roof has 108 rooms on 3 acres at 603 Fellowship Road and opened in the early 1980s.
The township's affordable housing plan counts 86 units at the Rodeway site and 90 at the Red Roof. Nine hotels sit on the township's redevelopment list, and the plan estimates that all nine together would yield 826 affordable apartments.
A planning consultant prepared a report of more than 600 pages on each property. Both cite dozens of police, fire, code and housing violations, and the fire department has a standing directive that its crews do not enter the Red Roof without police present. From 2021 to April 2026 the Red Roof accounted for 258 arrests and 440 police service cases, and the Rodeway for 136 arrests and 227.
The Planning Board reviews both studies next. If it accepts the findings, the township begins negotiating to acquire the properties. The township solicitor said the law requires the study to state whether it grants every power to negotiate, including eminent domain. These are proposals before the Planning Board and Council and can change.
Reported by 70and73.com. This is a summary in our own words; the full report is theirs.
Our take
Towns are meeting affordable housing numbers with aging commercial sites on busy roads, not open land, and a condemnation designation carries eminent domain. If you own an older commercial property on a road like Route 73, get a current value on it now.
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