A massive sporting goods store could replace a soon-to-be-demolished office tower next to one of metro Philadelphia’s most heavily trafficked malls.
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Dick’s Sporting Goods is set to open one of its House of Sport locations at the Cherry Hill Mall, 42freeway.com reported. The retailer did not respond to Bisnow’s request for comment.
Plans for the 120K SF retail outlet with an adjoining 10K SF turf athletic field will be discussed during the township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting on Dec. 5. Property owner PREIT has requested several zoning variances for the project.
The proposed two-story building would have a direct pedestrian connection to the rest of the indoor mall. The proposed site for the store is currently occupied by the nine-story One Cherry Hill office building, which is being demolished amid waning demand for office property. One Cherry Hill was more than 50% empty before being entirely vacated this year.
House of Sport locations are larger than standard Dick’s stores and include a wide array of athletic facilities. An operations report filed by PREIT on the Zoning Board’s website has more details about the proposal.
“A synthetic turf athletic field will be part of the store where customers can try out their purchases, and hold community/vendor events, and sports clinics,” the document says. “In addition to the typical sporting goods merchandise, the interior of the store will also include a rockclimbing wall, batting cage simulator, and golf, baseball, bike, and other sporting services.”
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Questions remain about the proposal, including several posted in a review by the Zoning Board’s engineer C. Jeremy Noll.
Noll is requesting testimony about the use of the proposed athletic field, including whether the fields would be used by local sports teams or a league sponsored by the owner and what impact that could have on staffing, parking and mall traffic.
Dick’s has two other locations in Cherry Hill, a standard store at 2130 Route 70 West and a closeout location at 2100 Route 38. The closest House of Sport location is at the Brandywine Town Center in Wilmington, Delaware.
If approved, the new Dick’s location would follow the Columbia outerwear store, which opened in the Cherry Hill Mall last week.
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