Current view of 21 Haddon Avenue in Haddon Township. Credit: Matt Skoufalos.

A Haddonfield-based redeveloper is seeking approval from the Haddon Township Planning and Zoning Board to construct a new, mixed-use, commercial-residential building in the unit block of Haddon Avenue.

The project would create four new commercial units beneath four, two-story rental apartments on the lot at the corner of Haddon and Strawbridge Avenues.

Kelly Tarditi, who acquired 21 Haddon Avenue from the estate of Hessam and Susan Moheimani in October 2023 for $585,000, believes in the potential of the property in the Westmont business district.

“We feel like it will just improve the aesthetics of the street and the downtown,” Tarditi said. “These will be very high-end condo units, and very beautiful fit-outs for the commercial spaces.”

Tarditi’s company, Kelly Builders, mostly does residential work in Haddonfield. She believes the project could fetch around $6,000 per month from renters who will be interested in luxuries like elevators, parking garages, and private balconies overlooking Haddon Avenue.

“We renovate historic homes and keep them historic,” Tarditi said. “We tend to get a lot of athletes that come and sign a one- or two-year deal, or coaches who want to rent something.”

Kelly Builders Contractor Patrick Ward, formerly of PJ Ward & Sons, said he believes the project will further commercial development in the Haddon Avenue business district with a zero-setback frontage and retail spaces that are larger than many existing available storefronts.

“This will be the gateway or the start of the redevelopment of what the town needs,” Ward said. “We’re coming in to benefit the town, and to give new, usable space.”

Ward said he believes the retail units would be perfect for almost any kind of business, especially professional services like physicians, attorneys, and the like. He pointed to the layout of the property as making better use of parking with a rear lot, private garages for the two-story apartments above, and striping for more spaces along Haddon Avenue.

For residential renters, “the idea is getting something like in the Chestnut Hill area,” Ward said. “The empty-nesters, there’s nowhere for them to go.”

Architectural drawings of second-floor plans for 21 Haddon Avenue. Credit: Thomas B. Wagner, Architect.

Attorney Damien Del Duca of the Haddonfield-based Del Duca Lewis and Berr, who filed the land use application on behalf of the ownership group, is seeking a handful of variances for the project.

For a start, Haddon Township code would only permit three apartment units to be situated on the 15,840-square-feet lot (one unit per 5,000 square-feet of lot area).

“The use variance is justified here because the site is particularly suitable for the proposed apartment units,” Del Duca wrote in the application.

“The property abuts a residential district, and the one additional proposed apartment unit — for a total of four instead of three here —would not materially impact the neighborhood that already abuts a commercial district,” he argued.

Architectural drawings by Thomas Wagner of Haddonfield illustrate four, two-story, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom apartments over four commercial units, each 25 feet, six inches by 32 feet, seven inches.

Orienting the lot towards Haddon Avenue and not Strawbridge Avenue, as the Moheimanis’ home and office were, allows for a zero-feet front yard setback in conformity with the zoning requirements of the commercial district.

21 Haddon Avenue – Strawbridge Avenue Rear Elevation. Credit: Thomas B. Wagner, Architect.

The applicants also seek bulk variance approval for a side yard setback of 13.47 feet versus the 15 feet required by ordinance, and a waiver of approvals for traffic impact and freshwater/wetlands reviews by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, “along with any other variances, waivers, exceptions, and approvals that may be required,” Del Duca wrote.

Stormwater management would be achieved via a proposed, 1,839 cubic-feet underground basin that would manage runoff from the building and parking lot sufficient to contain a 25-year storm, according to a report submitted by Clifton Quay of the Mount Laurel-based Stantec Engineering.

The project would exceed commercial parking requirements (8 spaces) by providing 11 parking spaces in its rear lot, including those for electric vehicle charging and disabled patrons, and eight along Haddon Avenue. It also contains four private parking garages attached to the residential units.

Its design accounts for zero loading zones, but does include five feet of vinyl privacy fencing along its rear and side border, two 14-feet LED light poles, and vegetative plantings.

The application from Kelly Builders was to have been heard at tonight’s meeting of the Haddon Township Planning and Zoning Board, but that process has been pushed back a month, township officials said, because “notice of the application was incomplete.”

The developers will present their case at the September 5 meeting of the body. Stick with NJ Pen for updates.