ShopRite has brand-new plans for bigger Freehold Township supermarket

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP - Instead of building a large ShopRite from the ground up, Saker ShopRites now hopes to renovate and expand the current 60-year-old store at South Freehold Shopping Center on Route 9, according to a new redevelopment plan approved by township officials.

Initially, Holmdel-based Saker ShopRites, which owns and operates 39 ShopRites in Central Jersey and the Jersey Shore, had proposed building a World Class ShopRite on what is now the store's parking lot.

Now a concept plan, part of a new redevelopment plan approved earlier this week by the Township Committee, calls for remodeling, updating and expanding the current store, according to concept design documents.

When it's done, the store will be a total of 86,500 square feet, 41% larger than the current 59,182-square-foot store, built in 1963. The new store also will be attached to a new ShopRite Liquor Warehouse .

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ShopRite will remain open during the remodel, Township Administrator Peter Valesi told What's Going There.

A representative of Saker ShopRites could not be reached for comment.

"It will be night and day, in my opinion," Freehold Township Mayor Anthony J. Ammiano said in an email. "The center has been suffering for years and is in need of this redevelopment project, and we have been waiting and hoping for it to start soon."

The redevelopment plan comes as part of an ordinance that sets the zoning regulations for development at South Freehold Shopping Center. ShopRite will still need to go through a Planning Board hearing before it can start construction.

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"The Township Committee is very excited about the redevelopment and believes that the developer can now move quickly to finalize the design, execute a redeveloper's agreement, and start to build this project," Ammiano said.

The redevelopment will mean big changes for the South Freehold Shopping Center, which is now mostly vacant. Currently, it consists of ShopRite attached to a L-shaped 72,729-square-foot strip shopping center.

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Instead of building a new store, ShopRite proposes to expand into six tenant spaces next door and construct an addition on the front of the building, according to concept plans. Other stores in the strip center, which includes Dollar Tree and other spaces that have tenants or are currently vacant, will remain.

"The redevelopment of ShopRite and the South Freehold Shopping Center is one of the most asked-about subjects to the governing body," Ammiano said. "Like every project, there were serious constraints on the site that made the plan challenging, but we feel that Saker and the township put together a great project that will now move forward quickly."

David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business, retail, real estate and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for 25 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Please sign up for his free weekly newsletter and join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.