Rowan University and Glassboro officials gave a tour of 220 Rowan Blvd. on Wednesday, outlining the future of the mixed-use building. The 316,000-square-foot facility will hold commercial space and more than 200 housing units. Here are a few things you can expect at the time of the building’s projected completion.
1. Inspira will open an Urgent Care outpatient medical facility in the building. The medical space, which will offer basic emergency care and some orthopedic care, makes up 27,000 square feet. Commercial space will take up another 20,000 square feet. No businesses are set in stone yet, but Nexus Properties COO Dante Germano said developers have gotten interest from a bank, at least one restaurant and a home furnishings retailer.
2. The building will house both Rowan students and private residents. Aside from the street-level commercial space, five of the building’s six floors will hold apartments. Student housing will take up 119 units, sleeping a total of 456 Rowan juniors and seniors. Another 57 units will be privately rented. Students and private citizens will have their own entrances to the building, and for security purposes, their keys will only allow them to enter the floors where they live, and units are soundproofed against outside noise. Students and private residents will also have separate elevators. Integrating students into the town is important to the developers, however.
“We want to encourage students to be here year-round,” said Germano, who said he hoped the apartments would let students live in town without disturbing longtime residents. “It’s not out in a neighborhood. It’s in an area where most of the neighbors are businesses marketed toward students.”
3. About a third of the private apartments have already been leased. The borough’s Economic Development Office said that 19 of the 57 private units — including all of the one-bedroom apartments in the building — have been pre-leased. The remainders are all two-bedroom apartments.
4. The building will be finished in July. That’s just in time for the start of the academic year, and it also coincides with another step forward in the Rowan Boulevard project. Builders will construct a new town square adjacent the former St. Bridget’s school building from start to finish this summer.
Andy Polhamus may be reached at apolhamus@southjerseymedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ajpolhamus. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
This was re-posted from NJ.com: http://www.nj.com/gloucester-county/index.ssf/2015/03/what_can_glassboro_expect_to_see_at_220_rowan_boul.html