By Christina Johnson |
SHREWSBURY – Attention shoppers: A big, brand news ShopRite supermarket is coming to Shrewsbury Avenue.
The borough’s Zoning Board of Adjustment gave the go-ahead to landowner National Realty & Development Corp. on Tuesday to repurpose an existing 10-acre office park and light industrial zone area at 1151- 1163 Shrewsbury Ave. for the future home of a ShopRite supermarket.
“It replaces three buildings that were vacant and unused for several years,” said Zoning Board chairman Judy Martinelly, who presided over two special zoning board sessions with NRDC to consider building additions, exterior renovations, signage and change in use.
“I think it’s nice to have a supermarket in town, now that we’ve lost Acme. We have Trader Joe’s, but this will satisfy everyone’s needs.”
The Shrewsbury Acme, formerly located in the Shrewsbury Plaza, has since moved a short distance away to Tinton Falls, into the former A&P supermarket space at 990 Shrewsbury Ave. Acme’s former location in the Plaza will become a HomeGoods store in the late spring, where it will join other national brand stores like Marshall’s, AC Moore, Jo-Ann, Saks Off Fifth and Panera Bread.
Saker ShopRite, which operates stores in Middletown, West Long Branch and Hazlet, will build a 88,230 square-foot, single-story supermarket with 390 parking spaces and enhanced landscaping that could open in 2018. Customers will access the store from two entrances along Shrewsbury Avenue, a four-lane roadway, which will include turning lanes.
Once an easement is granted, the parking lots of Shrewsbury Plaza and ShopRite will be linked. The neighboring Brandywine assisted living community will be accessible via an emergency-only entrance.
After the zoning board passes a resolution at its March 1 meeting, there will be a 45-day appeal period before engineering work can begin. A final sign-off from Monmouth County is also required, as Shrewsbury Avenue is a county road.
Mayor Don Burden welcomed what he called “a real quality store” for residents in his 2.2 square-mile town and surrounding communities, and is looking for ward to its anticipated contribution to town coffers. “Those buildings were basically empty. This will bring total occupancy to the tax rolls,” he said. Its contribution to the tax base will not be known until the store is built and assessed, he said.
An architectural rendering of the ShopRite to be built in Shrewsbury.
The final zoning board vote was 6-1. Vice chairman Shelley Canonico voted against site plan approval, citing oversaturation. “She didn’t think we needed another supermarket, with Acme across the street,” said Martinelly. However, Martinelly said Acme and A&P co-existed for years, and she did not share the same concern.
This article was first published in the Feb. 2-9, 2017 print edition of The Two River Times.
