New town home development in South Jersey promises affordable options

A former South Jersey shopping center will be transformed into more than 200 town homes that are designed to be more affordable than most houses in the area.

The former home of W.T. Grant on the White Horse Pike in Clementon has been abandoned for years, and the plan is to build new town homes with a starting price of about $170,000. The goal is to have zero down-payment mortgages so low- to moderate-income families can afford their own place in a great town, said developer Michael Fink.

“This is like an old style New Jersey town. The people are warm, the people are friendly, there’s a lot going on here,” he said. “So that’s a great place, to be two miles from the PATCO, to be 40 miles from Atlantic City, to be an 18-mile drive to Philadelphia, and to be in suburban New Jersey is a terrific location.”

Camden County Board of Freeholders Director Lou Cappelli said the deal is a good one for taxpayers too.

“By redeveloping the property, we are creating construction jobs to begin with and we will be creating a vibrant neighborhood that will be paying about a million dollars a year in taxes to Clementon,” Capelli said.

With a property tax break, mortgages on the townhouses will be about $1,200 to $1,400 a month.