Plans for Gloucester Premium Outlets near Philly

By Mike DeNardo July 12, 2013 2:17 PM CBS Philly

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP, N.J. (CBS) — An upscale outlet center is on the drawing board in Gloucester Township.

Camden County freeholder director Lou Cappelli says it’s the kind of project the county had in mind when the new Route 42 exit was first planned in 2008.

“The whole purpose of that interchange was to spur economic development,” Cappelli tells KYW Newsradio.  “And we’re very thankful that it’s happening now.”

Plans for the Gloucester Premium Outlets call for 90 designer and name-brand stores.   It would be built on vacant land near the Black Horse Pike and Route 42, and would be run by a partnership that includes an affiliate of the Simon Property Group, which operates the Philadelphia Premium Outlets, in Limerick.

Gloucester Township mayor Dave Mayer says the project should generate 300 construction jobs and 700 permanent retail positions.

“This not only creates jobs,” he said today.  “Not only will it help with continuing economic development along that corridor, but it will bring people into Gloucester Township to spend their money in our community.”

Mayer says construction starts in the fall, with the first cash registers expected to begin ringing by November 2014.

“In this center we’re having a town center type of feel, like a town square, where we have open space in the middle of the center that will consist of outside dining, even in the wintertime, (and) outdoor fireplaces,” Mayer says.