- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- next
- | single page
|
This artist's rendering, found on Sora Development's website, shows an aerial view of the planned $300 million Rowan Boulevard redevelopment project in Glassboro, N.J., that serves as a connection between the rapidly growing Rowan University and Glassboro's historic downtown business district. The project, which began in 2009 and includes plans for several mixed-use buildings, student housing facilities and multitier parking garages, is expected to boost the local economy by nearly $50 million annually when it's completed, according to Sora officials. (Submitted photo / January 19, 2013) |
A planned $300 million downtown redevelopment project in Glassboro, N.J., currently being completed by Sora Development, a real estate development firm that’s expressed interest in doing something similar in Hagerstown, has been well-received, an education official there said last week.
“We give a lot of credit to Sora,” said Joe Cordona, vice president of university relations for Rowan University, which is involved in the Glassboro project. “People looking at Sora should take them very seriously.”
The Rowan Boulevard revitalization project, a public-private partnership between Sora, the borough of Glassboro and Rowan University, contains several multistory mixed-use buildings, student-housing complexes and parking garages on 26 acres along a new one-third-mile corridor that connects Rowan and the heart of Glassboro’s historic business district.
According to Sora, it is estimated the long-term project, which began in 2009 and has been split into several phases, will boost the local economy by more than $48 million annually by the time it’s completed.
“We’ve had plenty of people fly in to see it, from different parts of the country,” Cordona said of the project in Glassboro, home to more than 18,500 people as of the 2010 Census. “... It’s exciting. It’s very exciting.”
Tim Elliott, director of design for Sora, which has offices in Towson, Md., was joined by officials of engineering firm Daft, McCune and Walker Inc., and Skanska, a multinational construction company, for an introductory presentation to the Hagerstown City Council on Jan. 15.
The group pitched a public-private partnership approach as a way to help redevelop Hagerstown’s struggling core and revitalize the city as a whole.
Borough, university linked
Cordona said the heyday of Glassboro’s downtown was in the 1960s and 1970s, before strip malls and shopping complexes pulled attention from urban retail districts in the 1980s there, as they did across the country.
Being a college town, Glassboro’s vitality coincided with what was going on at Rowan, and vice versa, Cordona said. About 10 years ago, the former university president and borough mayor began talks about revitalizing the town’s then-blighted downtown areas and renewing its link to the school and its 11,000-plus students.
“If you have a vibrant downtown, well, that helps with the university,” Cordona said. “They go together.”
Downtown retail storefronts went vacant as many properties fell into disrepair and crime rates jumped, he said.
At that time, there were a couple of run-down blocks of student rental properties that functioned like a “fraternity row,” Cordona said.
With that area acting as a barrier, the question for borough and university officials was, “How do we connect students to the downtown?” The answer for the longest time was simply, “You don’t,” he said.
“And that’s when Sora came through, and they were bold enough to make the investment and work with Glassboro, hand in hand, in order to purchase all the homes in this one-third of a mile stretch between the historic downtown and the university campus,” Cordona said.
After the area was eyed for redevelopment and master plans were drawn up on how to do it, Sora came in and purchased more than 26 acres of land for the project.
Some home and business owners were reluctant to sell, but Sora worked with them — building homes or business space for people elsewhere to make room for the project, Cordona said.
“They made things happen,” he said. “You have to give them a lot of credit for really putting their investment out there. That’s the hard part.”
At a groundbreaking ceremony in March 2009, Robert Andrews, now a nine-term U.S. congressman representing New Jersey’s 1st District, told the Courier-Post newspaper that the project could be considered a national model for economic stimulus, potentially creating 400 temporary construction jobs and 300 to 400 permanent jobs.
“We give a lot of credit to Sora,” said Joe Cordona, vice president of university relations for Rowan University, which is involved in the Glassboro project. “People looking at Sora should take them very seriously.”
The Rowan Boulevard revitalization project, a public-private partnership between Sora, the borough of Glassboro and Rowan University, contains several multistory mixed-use buildings, student-housing complexes and parking garages on 26 acres along a new one-third-mile corridor that connects Rowan and the heart of Glassboro’s historic business district.
According to Sora, it is estimated the long-term project, which began in 2009 and has been split into several phases, will boost the local economy by more than $48 million annually by the time it’s completed.
“We’ve had plenty of people fly in to see it, from different parts of the country,” Cordona said of the project in Glassboro, home to more than 18,500 people as of the 2010 Census. “... It’s exciting. It’s very exciting.”
Tim Elliott, director of design for Sora, which has offices in Towson, Md., was joined by officials of engineering firm Daft, McCune and Walker Inc., and Skanska, a multinational construction company, for an introductory presentation to the Hagerstown City Council on Jan. 15.
The group pitched a public-private partnership approach as a way to help redevelop Hagerstown’s struggling core and revitalize the city as a whole.
Borough, university linked
Cordona said the heyday of Glassboro’s downtown was in the 1960s and 1970s, before strip malls and shopping complexes pulled attention from urban retail districts in the 1980s there, as they did across the country.
Being a college town, Glassboro’s vitality coincided with what was going on at Rowan, and vice versa, Cordona said. About 10 years ago, the former university president and borough mayor began talks about revitalizing the town’s then-blighted downtown areas and renewing its link to the school and its 11,000-plus students.
“If you have a vibrant downtown, well, that helps with the university,” Cordona said. “They go together.”
Downtown retail storefronts went vacant as many properties fell into disrepair and crime rates jumped, he said.
At that time, there were a couple of run-down blocks of student rental properties that functioned like a “fraternity row,” Cordona said.
With that area acting as a barrier, the question for borough and university officials was, “How do we connect students to the downtown?” The answer for the longest time was simply, “You don’t,” he said.
“And that’s when Sora came through, and they were bold enough to make the investment and work with Glassboro, hand in hand, in order to purchase all the homes in this one-third of a mile stretch between the historic downtown and the university campus,” Cordona said.
After the area was eyed for redevelopment and master plans were drawn up on how to do it, Sora came in and purchased more than 26 acres of land for the project.
Some home and business owners were reluctant to sell, but Sora worked with them — building homes or business space for people elsewhere to make room for the project, Cordona said.
“They made things happen,” he said. “You have to give them a lot of credit for really putting their investment out there. That’s the hard part.”
At a groundbreaking ceremony in March 2009, Robert Andrews, now a nine-term U.S. congressman representing New Jersey’s 1st District, told the Courier-Post newspaper that the project could be considered a national model for economic stimulus, potentially creating 400 temporary construction jobs and 300 to 400 permanent jobs.
