Harrison Township's Joint Land Use Board has approved a 117-home subdivision on nearly 94 acres along Richwood-Aura Road, clearing the way for one more piece of a sprawling redevelopment project that has already reshaped this once-rural corner of Gloucester County. The board memorialized its decision in July, giving ActiveRHWA Property LLC the green light to subdivide the land and build four-bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath houses ranging from 2,700 to 4,000 square feet, expected to sell for between $800,000 and $1 million.
The project, known as the Reserve at Richwood, carries an estimated price tag of $58.5 million and sits within the Interior Richwood Redevelopment Area, according to Jersey Digs. ActiveRHWA Property LLC is owned by Active Acquisitions LLC, a privately held real estate development firm based in Wall Township. Construction is expected to begin in late 2026 or early 2027, with buildout projected to take three to five years, the outlet reports.
The 117 homes are just one slice of a much larger General Development Plan for the 385-acre Richwood site near Routes 322 and 55. That broader plan, deemed complete by Harrison Township's Joint Land Use Board in September 2024, envisions 2.9 million square feet of development including 10 warehouses, a 100-room hotel, and a wholesale buyer's club retailer, according to The Sun Papers.
Residents Raise Concerns Over Traffic and Farmland
Four residents testified about the Reserve at Richwood project at a hearing last December, per the same account from Jersey Digs. They raised concerns about an increased number of children entering the school district, the project's impact on biking in the area, and, in the case of one resident, the loss of sunset views over the farmland that has long defined the area.
Those concerns echo broader pushback that has followed the Richwood redevelopment for years. Harrison Township residents voiced opposition at municipal meetings in September 2024, citing diesel truck emissions from the planned warehouses, worsening traffic congestion, and the erosion of the community's agricultural identity, The Sun Papers reported at the time — the town had previously fought a separate warehouse proposal in nearby Mullica Hill.
The Reserve at Richwood development is estimated to bring 435 residents and 124 school-aged children to the township, according to Jersey Digs. While the municipality and school districts will collect property taxes from the new homes, those payments will not fully cover the added costs, based on an impact analysis prepared by Consulting Engineer Services, a Sicklerville-based firm. Non-residential uses planned elsewhere in the Richwood project are designed to more than offset that residential tax deficit, the analysis found.
A Development Stalled Since the 2008 Downturn
The Richwood site was originally envisioned in 2008 as a walkable, retail-centered town center complete with a new elementary school, but that plan languished after the 2008 economic downturn and shifting retail habits, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. Municipal leaders have noted that the rise of e-commerce further reduced demand for the kind of brick-and-mortar retail the original plan envisioned, pushing the site toward its current warehouse-and-housing format.
Harrison Township's push to develop Richwood dates back further still, with the township seeking to spur commercial growth in the redevelopment area.
Developer Lawsuit Adds Uncertainty to Broader Plan
The path to building out the rest of the Richwood site is not without friction. In January, Active Acquisitions affiliate ActiveRWHA Property LLC filed a lawsuit accusing a former project manager of trying to derail municipal approvals for the 385-acre development and steer the land instead to Rowan University and a competing developer, the Inquirer reported. Active Acquisitions had agreed to buy the property for $23 million in May 2023.
The outcome of the suit could shape how quickly, and in what form, the rest of the General Development Plan moves forward.
A Town Transformed by Rapid Growth
The numbers explain why so much is riding on this stretch of farmland. Harrison Township's housing stock grew by 56% between 2000 and 2020, according to Jersey Digs, four times New Jersey's statewide housing growth rate of 14% over the same period. Gloucester County as a whole saw housing units grow by 23% in that span, itself outpacing the state average, as proximity to Philadelphia via Route 55 and the New Jersey Turnpike has turned the county into a regional growth corridor.
