A six-acre stretch of parking lot at Moorestown Mall is being transformed into Pearl Apartment Homes, a 375-unit residential project now under construction next to Boscov's. Of those units, 75 will be set aside as affordable housing.
The project traces back to June 2022, when Bel Canto Asset Growth Fund bought the six-acre site from mall owner PREIT for $11.8 million, according to Moorestown Retail Space. Harkins Builders Inc. is serving as construction manager and general contractor on the development, as reported by Jersey Digs. Pearl Apartment Homes is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2027 and will include both market-rate and affordable units, per the same account.
What Renters Can Expect
Architectural plans by FK Architecture call for a four-story wood-frame building with layouts ranging from studios to three-bedroom units, with rents starting at $2,200 a month, according to Harkins Builders. Amenities are expected to include four courtyards and pools. Pre-leasing opened in 2026. The article also provides rental-cost information.
The apartments sit within a much larger municipal vision for the 84-acre mall property. Under Moorestown Township's Master Mall Redevelopment Plan, developers are authorized to build up to 1,065 total residential units and a hotel across the site, according to 70 and 73. That redevelopment plan addresses the township's affordable housing requirements.
A Court-Ordered Housing Push
Moorestown's willingness to allow residential construction on mall land stems from a legal settlement with the Fair Share Housing Center under New Jersey's Mount Laurel doctrine, which requires suburban municipalities to accommodate low- and moderate-income housing, per The Philadelphia Inquirer. The article also discusses local demand for that kind of housing.
Local housing conditions help explain the pressure. The article also discusses housing options for older residents.
PREIT's Long Road To This Point
The land sale that made Pearl possible was followed by changes at the mall. Cooper University Health Care opened a 166,000-square-foot outpatient medical campus in November 2023 inside the former Sears store, which had sat vacant since 2020, per the Inquirer. That facility is part of the mall's reinvention.
The article also considers redevelopment elsewhere in PREIT's Mid-Atlantic portfolio. Moorestown Mall sits along Route 38.
Harkins Builders Looks North
For Harkins Builders, the Pearl project is one piece of a broader regional push. The Columbia, Maryland-based firm is also serving as construction manager on Brightview Laurel Point, a 173-unit senior living project on Route 38 in Mount Laurel expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2028, and on Brightview Brick, a 176-unit senior living community on Route 88 in Brick scheduled for completion in the summer of 2027, according to Jersey Digs. Brightview has been a Harkins client since 1974 and now develops and owns 55 senior housing locations stretching from Massachusetts to Virginia.
That New Jersey workload is significant enough that Harkins — a 100% employee-owned company with 360 employees and offices in Charlotte and Raleigh, North Carolina — is likely to open a dedicated New Jersey office north of Princeton, per Jersey Digs. Mike Pryzbylkowski, the company's vice president/northeast, is based out of Harkins' Pennsylvania regional office and told the outlet that New Jersey is “absolutely a focus” for him. He added that the state has a lot of potential for future projects, particularly in the multifamily space, and suggested affordable housing in New Jersey could be a growth area over the next five to 10 years.
Pryzbylkowski, a Cherry Hill resident who holds an undergraduate degree from Virginia Tech and an MBA from Rutgers-Camden, described New Jersey as a strong Mid-Atlantic senior living market. Whether the additional 690 units still permitted under Moorestown's redevelopment plan move forward — and whether new residents help boost foot traffic for Boscov's, which remains open at the mall — are questions that will likely play out over the coming years as the site continues its shift from asphalt to apartments.
