Could ‘last mile’ delivery warehouses help revive commerce on Camden’s Admiral Wilson Boulevard?

Across the Philadelphia region, warehouse development tends to generate fierce opposition.

But in Camden, where a warehouse is going up on a forlorn stretch of Admiral Wilson Boulevard where a supermarket project failed in 2016, it’s a different story.

“The warehouse looks beautiful,” Mayor Victor Carstarphen said.

Noting that a second warehouse is planned, the mayor added: “To have something of that magnitude being built there and [visible to] tens of thousands of vehicles daily is nothing but a good thing. We’re turning a blighted area into a brighter area.”

James Lex, executive director of the Camden County Improvement Authority, said the warehouses represent “the biggest economic development project along that postindustrial part of the boulevard in decades.”

Said Camden County Commissioner Jeff Nash: “The warehouse is being built in an area that was vacant for so long it became a symbol of the city’s decline.”

Matrix, a development firm headquartered in Middlesex County, is building the 279,600-square-foot warehouse on 16 acres along the boulevard between 17th and 19th Streets.

No tenants have yet been secured, but the facility can be fitted out for cold storage, “last mile” delivery, or light industrial use, said David Thomas, vice president of development at Matrix.

The property is being marketed as Matrix Business Center-Admiral Wilson Boulevard. “It’s a spec building and we’ve set it up to be as adaptable as it can. It could accommodate two tenants,” he said.

Construction began nearly a year ago, with completion of the shell expected in October. Matrix also is negotiating to buy a smaller adjacent parcel to accommodate a second warehouse of 132,000 square feet.

“We’ll kind of see how the first one goes and then look at the second one,” Thomas said.

“Matrix Business Center’s commitment ... represents a strong belief in Camden’s economic potential and is poised to leverage the city’s strategic proximity to Philadelphia and South Jersey,” said Jason Wolf, managing principal of Wolf Commercial Real Estate in Marlton.

Although Carstarphen and Nash said they anticipate that the warehouses will create a number of well-paying jobs, Thomas would not provide an estimate, noting that job creation will depend on the nature of the tenants.

But he did say Matrix will pay full property taxes on the warehouses — a rarity in a city where Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILOTS), tax abatements, and public subsidies, are standard for most commercial developments.

“We will be 100% privately funded,” said Thomas, adding that he could not estimate the project’s total cost ahead of its completion.

Except for reconfiguring the intersection of 17th and the boulevard to facilitate truck access, no alterations to the city’s streets are required. Carstarphen noted the longtime industrial nature of that stretch of the boulevard and said residential neighborhoods are at some distance from the development.

Bush Refrigeration has occupied an Art Deco-style building on Admiral Wilson Boulevard since 1979. “Second-generation owner” Alex Bush said the warehouse rising just across 17th Street from his company is a positive change.

“For the longest time the only thing happening there was people going in and riding ATVs,” he said. “There are people who say it’s just going to sit empty. But with the access to I-676 and I-95, I wouldn’t be surprised if they get a tenant.”

Construction of what is now the Benjamin Franklin Bridge in the early 1920s helped inspire business, political, and civic leaders to form a “Greater Camden Movement” to beautify the city. Plans to extend the city park system into the suburbs eventually succeeded.

But the notion of a scenic boulevard lined with trees and grand structures proved impractical. Within a few years of the bridge’s dedication in 1926, the boulevard was lined with gas stations and car dealerships. Later the once-grand YMCA on the south side of the highway at Baird Boulevard became a motel that made a cameo appearance in the 1995 sci-fi movie 12 Monkeys.

“In 1993, I remember an event on the boulevard to publicize a redevelopment effort called the Camden Initiative,” said Nash.

The initiative was unsuccessful, but in advance of the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Gov. Christie Whitman’s administration led an effort by public agencies to buy up strip clubs, liquor stores, hot-sheet motels (including the Oasis), and gas stations on the boulevard’s south side.

Gateway Park opened to the public in 2019.

“So now the future of the boulevard may be retail [goods] that get shipped to your home,” said Jack O’Byrne, executive director of the Camden County Historical Society. “The city needs to create jobs and tax revenue. and this [warehouse] is seen as the highest and best use of the land there right now.”

Said Carstarphen: “Companies are looking at Camden as a sound investment. There’s a new momentum in the city. And I feel it’s a great momentum.”