Retail will return to former New Jersey mall site—along with three warehouses

Big regional malls are usually located at major highway crossroads, also a good spot for distribution centers. So it’s no surprise that three warehouses might be going up on the former site of the Burlington Center Mall in New Jersey.

Plans for 1.9 million sq. ft. of warehouse space will be put before the Burlington Township planning board on June 3 by an affiliate of Lion Heart Industrial Trust, a Maryland-based real estate investment trust, according to a report in the Burlington County Times.

Also in the plans for what’s being called The Crossings is 100,000 sq. ft. of retail to include shops, restaurants, and medical offices in eight buildings that would range in size from 2,850 sq. ft. to 55,655 sq. ft.

In 1982, it was another Maryland developer called The Rouse Company that opened Burlington Center, anchored by Macy’s, J.C. Penney, and Sears. The 850,000-sq.-ft. mall closed in 2018, and demolition commenced earlier this year.