Walters Group wins approval for redevelopment plan in NJ.

The Walters Group's plans for the Stafford Park redevelopment, and the landfill closure that will make it possible, were approved by the New Jersey Pinelands Commission at a meeting on July 14.

The approval, through a detailed Memorandum of Agreement, was announced by Joseph Del Duca, a partner of the prominent Barnegat residential and commercial real estate firm. The Commission's vote authorizes its executive director to enter into an agreement with Stafford Township and Ocean County to permit the landfill closure and the redevelopment of the Stafford Business Park.

Stafford Park will feature a village center theme and will consist of 565 age-restricted housing units and 112 affordable housing units and 25,000 s/ f of office space, including municipal public works facilities. In addition, the redevelopment will feature a 650,000s/f retail complex, with a town center, three major anchor stores, a dozen boutiques and restaurants, and a recreation area with a 71,000-square-foot twin ice skating rink. The 361-acre site is located in Ocean County's Stafford Township just south of Route 72, at Exit 63 of the Garden State Parkway. It is within a Pinelands Regional Growth Area and was initially approved for development by the Pinelands Commission in 1991.

"It is difficult to put into words how pleased we are to see the end of the tunnel and to be looking at a bright future," said Del Duca. "Betty Wilson, the chairperson of the Pinelands Commission, said at the meeting that she believed this was the most scrutinized application ever to come before the Commission. If it wasn't, it has to be close to the top of the list, and that makes the Commission's approval all the more special."

"We had the good fortune to be working with some very dedicated people, from Mayor Block and the Stafford Township Council to the members and staff of the Pinelands Commission," said Del Duca.