Cinnaminson Establishes $275K Escrow After Old Acme Site Delays

CINNAMINSON, NJ — Much of the proposed redevelopment of the former Acme site on Route 130 in Cinnaminson faces delays amid the coronavirus pandemic, and the township is taking steps to ensure the project doesn’t completely fall by the wayside.

A daycare, a storage facility, an IHOP and a family casual restaurant have been in the works for the 14-acre site that saw Acme as its main tenant until it closed in 2011.

When the coronavirus pandemic began one year ago this month, construction on the daycare moved forward, but the other projects came to a halt. Read more here: Cinnaminson Breaks Ground On Acme Redevelopment Project

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“The storage center was put on pause until the IHOP shell could be built,” Economic Development Director Michael Minton told Cinnaminson Township Committee during Monday night’s meeting. “It doesn’t seem like the IHOP will happen in the next six to nine months, or even a year.”

On Monday night, Township Committee unanimously approved a resolution to amend the contract to create an escrow account in lieu of building the shell at this time.

Developer Cinnaminson Global would put $275,000 into the account, which Minton said would motivate them to move ahead with the project. If construction on the shell doesn’t begin in the next three years from the date the contract is amended, $150,000 would be taken out of the escrow and would be awarded to the township.

After that, another $25,000 would be taken out of the account every 30 days until the escrow is exhausted. The township can use the money however it sees fit, even if it isn’t for the project, Minton said. It would also be able to continue to market the property, Minton said.

“Given the times we’re in, we see this as a fair agreement,” Minton said. “The site must be fully developed for the daycare to be successful.”

Minton said he and Township Manager Eric Schubiger are on a call with Cinnaminson Global every three weeks, and that there has been interest in the site from other contractors. He told Mayor Albert Segrest he was confident the IHOP project would move forward.

“They’re not going to give us a quarter of a million dollars if it’s not going to happen,” Minton said.

Cinnaminson Global was named the developer on the project in March 2019, four months after Township Committee began working on the redevelopment plan for the site. The Planning Board granted preliminary and final site plan approval for the proposed project in August 2019.

See related:
Site Work Begins On Former Acme Site In Cinnaminson
Construction Continues On Lidl, Former Acme Site In Cinnaminson