The
"concept drawing" presented by city planner Robert Melvin to the
Woodbury City Council and the public on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013. (Staff photo by
Jason Laday/South Jersey Times)
WOODBURY— City council on Tuesday voted 6-0 to
give final approval to a redevelopment plan for the long-vacant, former Woodbury Country Club, with the planning board expected to consider the site
plan next week.
The vote followed
a public hearing, during which city planner Robert Melvin, of the Camden-based
Group Melvin Design, presented an overview of the 34-page development plan, which would see three
health care facilities and 20 residential homes built on the 50-acre plot.
“This plan should
stay in place — it has the 20 residential lots, the three buildings and other
aspects,” said Woodbury Council President Bill Fleming. “This will be the
zoning overlay. Traffic and other concerns will be addressed at the
planning-board level.”
The developer,
William G. Burris is CEO of the Moorestown-based Burris Construction Co. His
previous project was the PowerBack Rehabilitation Center, operated by Genesis
HealthCare in Voorhees.
According to
Melvin, the plan for the former country club includes 20 homes on
20,000-square-foot lots, as well as an assisted living center with up to 100
beds, a long-term convalescent facility with approximately 60 beds and a
physical rehabilitation center with between 100 and 150 beds.
There will also be
15 acres of “public access space,” according to Melvin.
“This is a concept
drawing,” he said. “This plan codifies things like setbacks for parking lots,
lot sizes, buffers and things like that.”
Most resident
concerns about the plan have so far related to drainage, and how the new
facility will affect traffic on Cooper Street and Evergreen Avenue.
Melvin and city
officials said Tuesday that the planning board is set to address those aspects
of the plan in the coming weeks.
The shuttered Woodbury Country Club.Times file photo
WOODBURY — Officials Tuesday night announced what they hope will be the beginning of the end to the continuing struggle to redevelop the long-vacant Woodbury Country Club.
According to Council President William Fleming Jr., a developer has stepped forward expressing interest in building three health care facilities, as well as 20 homes, on the 50-acre plot, which previously was home to a golf course and club house.
The developer, William G. Burris, Jr., CEO of the Moorestown-based Burris Construction Company, first connected with the city’s economic development committee in January after speaking with officials at Underwood-Memorial Hospital.
“The developer specializes in health care facilities, and he was referred to us by Underwood, but at this point everything is conceptual,” said Fleming.
“There is no agreement with the city or the bank at this point,” he later added. “Although Burris does have a deposit with the bank.”
Parke Bank is the primary creditor and current owner of the property, which according to Fleming has at certain points since its closure been the home of everything from squatters to grass some three feet tall.
The land and country club on it have been vacant since club members filed for bankruptcy in 2009. Parke Bank purchased the property at sheriff’s sale in 2010. Burris’ previous project was the Powerback Rehabilitation Center, operated by Genesis Healthcare, on Route 73 in Voorhees. The 87,000-square-foot, 124-room rehabilitation center serves patients recently discharged from the hospital, and was designed to get them out of rehab in 15 to 30 days. Fleming along with Mayor Bill Volk said they toured the facility recently and gave the center positive reviews. “From the site plan, to the interior as well as the landscaping outside, I was really impressed,” said Fleming. “There are many convalescencent homes in New Jersey, but this one is different, more modern.” Volk added that he appreciated the center’s reliance on solar and hydroelectric power. As for Burris’ plans for the country club, Fleming said the developer is proposing three buildings — a rehabilitation center, a long-term convalescencent facility and a center for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Burris has also introduced the idea of constructing 20 homes with an approximate value of $500,000 to $600,000, Fleming said. However, the council president added it’s likely Burris’ company would farm out the home construction. “We know it’s not a golf course,” said Fleming, addressing residents at Tuesday night’s council meeting. “We’ve pursued bringing in another golf course, but none have come up successful. “We think this could be a good answer for the property and the city.” --- Contact Jason Laday at 856-686-3628 or jladay@southjerseymedia.com.
Burris Construction Company’s 3rd Annual Open House celebration will benefit the
construction of Percheron Park on Main Street in Moorestown. Come enjoy the Phillies vs. Indians game, feast on a ballpark banquet of
wine, beer, pig roast, a chance to win a 2013 Fiat, and more.
Enter to win a 2013 Fiat — Raffle tickets are $100 each, and only 350 tickets are being sold!
When: 5—10 PM | Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Where: 8 E. Main Street, Moorestown, NJ 08057
Cost: $50.00 tax-deductible
donation per person
For more information, to RSVP and make donation, or buy a raffle ticket, contact Kim Jordan at 856-439-6666.
Harold Brubaker, Inquirer Staff Writer Posted: Monday, November 19, 2012, 3:01 AM
As a designer and builder, William G. Burris Jr. clearly relishes details.
Demonstrating a recliner at a $30 million rehabilitation center under construction by his company in Voorhees, Burris explained the importance of the chair's control.
"Two positions. Back-up. Down-up. It doesn't take too much to figure out what to do here," he said.
By contrast, a popular recliner brand has eight buttons on the control and is "very confusing" for patients, said Burris, whose small Burris Construction Co. Inc. in Moorestown specializes in nursing homes and related health-care facilities.
The Voorhees project, nearing completion, is for Kennett Square nursing-home giant Genesis HealthCare Corp. The facility, with 124 private rooms, will house a new rehabilitation model, called PowerBack, for patients who have had joint replacements or heart problems and who are not ready to go straight home from the hospital.
Genesis was responsible for the clinical area's design, but the rest is Burris, said Paul Bach, a Genesis executive vice president and central-area president for the company in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
"Over our history, we've worked with a lot of different contractors, but Bill is the most knowledgeable person I've ever come across when it comes to thinking about patient-driven design elements," Bach said. "He incorporates them without a lot of added cost."
Burris, 57, did not start out with that touch.
His father, William G. Burris, who died this year, founded the company in 1975, he said.
Now with about 140 employees and a five-year backlog of work worth $260 million to $290 million, the firm initially concentrated on government work, mainly schools, Burris said.
"My father was insistent that we do that type of work because with municipal, state, county governments, school boards, you knew you were getting paid."
In the early 1980s, after the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development started financing nursing homes 100 percent, Burris Construction shifted much of its business there.
But a contract to build a YMCA in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, in the late 1980s played a pivotal role for Burris Construction, which had worked on numerous projects with architectural plans that could not be executed within budget.
The Hamilton YMCA had a $3.2 million budget, but construction plans called for $5.2 million. Burris persuaded the YMCA board to let the company use its own architect.
"We were able to build it for $3.2 million," he said.
"It taught us that it should be an integrated process. This concept where construction is done and the parts are all removed from each other doesn't work."
Burris took what he learned and - with most of his employees in tow - went on to direct construction and development activities at two large senior-living companies.
First was Multicare Cos., which Genesis bought in 1997. From 1999 to 2009, Burris was executive vice president for construction and development at CareOne L.L.C. in Fort Lee, N.J., and a partner in a development entity with CareOne's owner, Daniel Strauss.
"My partner and I got a business divorce in 2009," said Burris, who then revived Burris Construction.
The goal was to start from scratch, "forget what we knew, and study what we didn't know. That's the real needs of the residents," Burris said.
He saw that all new hospitals had private rooms.
"If people are going to those hospitals with private rooms, what are they going to expect when they come to this level [of care]?" Burris asked.
Surveys of patients told him that the top complaints were the absence of a doctor for too much of the day and bad food. Genesis took care of the doctor, and Burris took care of the food by designing a kitchen capable of preparing meals to order.
"This is a room-service program like you would have in a hotel," Burris said. "Gone are the days where at 7:30 in the morning, we send tray lines out to 130 residents with whatever we think we can get away with feeding them."
Residents also complained about uncomfortable chairs in their rooms.
Patients get tired from working on rehabilitation, Burris said: "We wanted to make them as comfortable as we could."
November 1, 2012 — Moorestown,
NJ William Burris along with his wife,
Linda Burris, continue in their advocacy for the historic preservation of
Moorestown as evident by their recent donation to the Swedes Run Barn
Restoration Project.
The Moorestown Historical Society published recently the need to
source financial alternatives after discovering that the Open Space Trust Fund
could not be used to help pay for completed renovations to the barn. Members of
the historical society had been counting on the town council to aid in paying
off associated debts of the project and encountered a roadblock once they
learned that public expenditures are required to follow public financial law,
which does not allow for retroactive reimbursements.
In a recent article in “The Moorestown Sun”, one of the project
organizers, Julie Maravich of the historical society stated that $5,000 was
needed to complete the restoration of Swedes Run Barn and the Burris family wrote
a check for that amount so the job could be finished.
“I don't believe this is a place for spending township open
space funds,” said Mr. Burris. “This should be the effort of locals who support
these type projects.
Maravich remarked of the Burris donation, “It’s spectacular
because we were fairly maxed out as far as donations from the townspeople. To
have the Burris family come forward and respond to our dilemma is phenomenal
for us as we are so close to completing the project. This kind of generosity
will really help us push it through.”
Although the revitalized roof has already been completed, the
donation will now allow the Moorestown Historical Society to pay for it.
Outstanding objectives include custom doorjambs with custom iron-forged strap
hinges to prevent weather damage and keep animals from using it for shelter.
Other projects slated for future restoration include the
recreation of an interior loft, the building of a small landing with step on
the interior as well as exterior landscape enhancement. At some point in the
future the building may be used for photo opportunities, historical events and
tours.
The Burris family has personally sponsored several historic
preservation initiatives. They own Boxwood Hall in Haddonfield and just last
week purchased 10 West Main Street in Moorestown. Mr. Burris was the recipient
of the Walt Whitman Historic Preservation award in 2006 for his efforts in
establishing the Beach Haven Historic Advisory Commission.
For additional information regarding
the Swedes Run Barn Restoration Project and to make a donation, please visit www.moorestown.com/history. For additional press information regarding the Burris
Family, please contact Diane Pilla at dianep@idealabmarketing.com or (856)
642-0007.
