Echelon Mall plan for 317 homes
is dropped in Voorhees.

A plan to build 317 townhouses and apartments on the parking lots of the former Echelon Mall in Voorhees has been dropped. The developer had said it needed $90 million in state Aspire grants for a parking garage and overdue maintenance on the mall building. After the New Jersey Economic Development Authority paused those grants this summer, the developer told the township the project was dead.

The plan, unveiled last year, called for 207 market-rate townhouses, 50 affordable for-sale townhouses and 60 affordable rental apartments. A parking garage with 1,300 to 1,500 spaces would have replaced the surface lots. More than 38,000 square feet of shops and entertainment would have filled the mall building, and the developer planned to give the township 30,000 square feet of indoor space for community use.

Voorhees Township Administrator Stephen J. Steglik said the project did not work financially for the developer without the state funding. He said a revival would need another developer with a similar plan to buy the property from its current owner, and that a mix of shops and homes is what the township's redevelopment plan calls for.

The 56-year-old mall, now called the Voorhees Town Center Mall, has been shut down since a fire in 2024. Boscov's, the township's municipal offices and a dental clinic are still operating there. Steglik said the property will sit empty until the owner, or a new owner, repairs the fire damage.

Unit counts and plan details are as reported. Plans, permits and timing can change. Reported by 70and73.com. This is a summary in our own words; the full report is theirs.