Development of ‘Golden Triangle’ in Riverside picking up steam

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Camelot at Riverside developer Kaplan Companies received approval from the Riverside Township Planning Board Monday night to move forward with an amended plan that reduced the number of proposed market-rate residential units from 200 to 170.

RIVERSIDE — After an issue with the soil under the site of the proposed Camelot at Riverside development caused a delay, the development of the township’s “Golden Triangle” is beginning to pick up some steam.

Camelot developer Kaplan Companies received approval from the Riverside Township Planning Board on Monday night to move forward with an amended plan that reduced the number of proposed market-rate residential units from 200 to 170.

“We encountered some structural issues in the ground that we had to work around because it’s so close to the water,” said Jason Kaplan, president of Highland Park-based Kaplan Companies.

Kaplan said that while the developer must now amend its applications to other state and county agencies, the goal is to begin construction by spring 2020.

The project in Riverside surfaced more than a decade ago, but the economy, housing market and township approval process led to multiple delays. It originally received approval from the township planning board in early 2017.

The developer originally proposed 200 one- and two-bedroom units to be housed in 20 buildings on a 12-acre site off Pavilion Avenue near the Rancocas Creek and a short walk to NJ Transit’s River Line train station.

Now, the 170 units will be housed in 10 buildings and still include a clubhouse, pool, tot lot and dog park, creating more open space, according to Kaplan.

Camelot at Riverside will be built behind the historic Keystone Watch Case Building, which is also undergoing its own transformation into 64 luxury apartments.

Construction began this March in the common areas of the historic building, and Brooklyn-based developer Simshabs XI has also filed its building permits for the 64 apartments, according to Township Administrator Meghan Jack.

The Watch Case building, which is in the heart of town on Pavilion Avenue, has been the centerpiece of the municipality’s redevelopment plans for years. But proposals and plans have fallen through numerous times, according to officials.

Plans for the 64 apartments were approved in September 2017.

Both projects are the centerpieces of the Golden Triangle, the redevelopment zone formed by the Rancocas Creek, Pavilion Avenue and the NJ Transit River Line tracks at Franklin Street in the center of town.

Also part of the Golden Triangle is the former site of the W.F. Taubel Mills hosiery factory off Fairview Street. The factor was demolished in 2006, and in November 2017 the township committee named SJM Riverside LLC as the redeveloper of the property.

Dubbed then as the Mill at Riverside, the developer proposed 150 market-rate units, with around 90 townhouses and 60 one- and two-bedroom units. The status of the project was not immediately known Wednesday.

In September, New Jersey Transit announced it was also considering the redevelopment of the four non-adjoining lots it owns in Riverside for residential or retail use.

However, the largest lot — 11.75 acres — contains wetlands, likely limiting opportunities there, according to NJ Transit. The station’s existing 259 parking spaces are about 25% used.

The Camelot at Riverside is the second residential development Kaplan Companies has embarked on in Burlington County. Down the road, the company built a 911-unit complex, Camelot at Cinnaminson Harbor, along the Delaware River in Cinnaminson.