Fresh hope but mixed reactions to plans to complete Plaza Grande at Cherry Hill racetrack site

The on-again, off-again construction of Plaza Grande, an upscale residential community at Garden State Park in Cherry Hill, is on again — thanks to the North Jersey investor credited with resurrecting North Philadelphia’s Divine Lorraine building.

“This is going to be my finest project,” said William “Billy” Procida, who also helped finance the Met Philadelphia live music venue on North Broad Street in the city. He acquired Plaza Grande in July from the previous owner, Tristate Ventures, for an undisclosed sum.

The 33-acre parcel at Garden Park Boulevard and Haddonfield Road is set aside for residents 55 and over and was originally envisioned having as many as 24 condominium buildings. It’s one of three large residential communities at the sprawling mixed-use complex that’s been taking shape for nearly 20 years on the former Garden State Park Race Track site.

“Never have I seen a property that’s so well-located,” said Procida.

Occupying a prominent spot just south of the Cherry Hill Mall between Routes 70 and 38, the 212-acre Garden State Park redevelopment project is among the largest of its kind in the Philadelphia region.

The popularity of many of its stores and restaurants notwithstanding, the site is sometimes perceived as not having lived up to its potential to create a town center in South Jersey’s quintessential mid-century modern suburb. And Plaza Grande has long been among the site’s most visible unfinished sections.

Garden State Park also includes 1.5 million square feet of retail space in several clusters of stores with anchors such as Costco, Wegmans, and Nordstrom Rack. The retail has been developed by Edgewood Properties, the Piscataway, Middlesex County, firm that also built the Park Lane and Park Place residential communities at Garden State Park.

“I think Plaza Grande is the best piece of the entire complex, and we’ll have it done by the end of next year,” said Procida, the president and CEO of Procida Funding & Advisors in Englewood Cliffs, Bergen County.

Procida estimated that building or completing an additional 283 rental units will cost $200 million. In 2017 Tristate began building 224 apartments, all of which are now leased. He also said 221 apartments are under construction, with preliminary work started on 62 more.

Monthly rents in the new apartments will start at $2,500 for a one-bedroom and $2,980 for a two-bedroom.

Upon completion, Plaza Grande will have 101 condominiums and 507 apartments. It also has about 30 affordable rental units, and 200 additional affordable apartments either have been built or are under construction elsewhere in the other residential sections of Garden State Park, a spokesperson for the Fair Share Housing Center said.

The affordable units are required under the terms of a court-supervised contract the township has signed with the center.

At Plaza Grande, owners and tenants alike “will be part of a private club, with swimming, tennis, a golf simulator, ... and all of the amenities of the private clubhouse,” Procida said.

“You can live here and build your own lifestyle.”

Homeowners in the four “legacy” condominium buildings at Plaza Grande said they are pleased by Procida’s improvements to the clubhouse, as well as to the outdoor swimming pool and even the logo. He is on site regularly and has hired first-rate firms to manage and market the property, they said.

But having weathered construction delays due to the 2008 recession, as well as Plaza Grande’s evolution into a mix of condominiums and apartments, Dan and Carole Cirucci have reservations.

“Our optimism is tempered, because Billy Procida is our third owner, and we’ve been through litigation and a whole series of false starts and disappointments,” Dan Cirucci, a retired public relations executive, said. The couple, who have two grown children and seven grandchildren, bought their two-bedroom Plaza Grande condo in 2008.

“We would like to know where our buildings fit into the future he’s talking about,” said Cirucci, pointing out that lobbies and other common areas are showing their age and need major upgrades.

“We love our building and we love our neighbors,” said Carole Cirucci, a retired educator.

“We just want to see Plaza Grande completed.”

In 2020 the Ciruccis were among a group of about 70 Plaza Grande condo owners who sued Tristate in an effort to take control of the four buildings and address maintenance and other issues.

The Ciruccis said an out-of-court settlement was reached between the homeowners and Tristate, the previous owner.

“We are looking for the settlement to be finalized and for us as a community to move forward with Billy,” said Carole Cirucci.

Said Procida, “We’re working that through so that [the settlement] is fair to everybody.”

Like the Ciruccis, Plaza Grande resident Sue Mattio also would prefer that Procida build condos, rather than apartments.

“Owners care more,” said Mattio, 62, a property manager in Philadelphia. She and her husband, Ed, have been renting at Garden State Park and recently purchased a Plaza Grande condo.

“Owners are more willing to make upgrades, and they’re willing to spend more,” she said.

“Homeowners are thinking about longevity.”

But unlike the rental market, the condo market is “not so great” at present,” said Procida, who is eager to get the units built and occupied. The market absorbs new condos more slowly than new apartments, he said.

“In the future could it be condos here? Maybe,” said Procida. “But I’ve got to get this place finished, and by finishing Plaza Grande, it will make the condo units more valuable to their owners.”

Rick Tarantino, a chef who serves on the five-member board of the homeowners association at Plaza Grande, said he is impressed with Procida’s vision for the community and agrees with his approach.

“The first, most important thing is to finish the development,” said Tarantino. “Right now it doesn’t look finished. And if it doesn’t look finished, it’s like you’re living in a place that’s always under construction.”

The new owner, he said, “is going to finish the place and make it look like a million bucks.”

“I know there were a lot of plans circulated about what the Garden State Park development could be or should be,” said Cosmas Diamantis, the township’s director of community development.

“The plan now in place is flexible. It can adapt, and it also recognizes that this development is not something that gets built overnight,” he said.

“The retail is basically thriving, a hotel with a rooftop deck has been proposed, and we’re concentrating on getting the [55-and-over] piece done,” said Diamantis.

“Garden State Park is like an unfinished painting. When it’s finished, we will be able to see it for what it is.”