Politics & Government

Updates: Fieldstone Canned As RiverWinds Redeveloper

The West Deptford Township Committee axed the deal over the developer's change in plans.

The Bridgewater-based Fieldstone Associates' redevelopment deal is dead in the water, after the West Deptford committee shot it down in closed session Thursday night because of a request by the developer to add apartments to the planned townhomes and condominiums at RiverWinds.

Deputy Mayor Len Daws announced the decision via Twitter at 10:04 p.m., noting simply that the township had cancelled the redevelopment deal with Fieldstone, almost a year to the day that the committee passed a resolution initially appointing the company as the redeveloper.

Daws called the apartments–a change the developer inserted into the plan without any prior discussion–the "final blow" in the long negotiating process. The process had dragged on since last summer without any agreement in place.

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"The committee was just frustrated," Daws said. "At some point, you just have to move on."

Fieldstone’s originally announced plan, part of a $4.7 million redevelopment deal, called for putting close to 300 homes on two parcels of land at RiverWinds and potentially develop a marina on a third piece of land.

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The Fieldstone deal had replaced one the township had struck with Phoenix, AZ-based Namwest to build more than 400 homes, as well as a hotel and conference center–a deal that went belly-up in 2009 after Namwest went bankrupt.

There's no financial effect for the township; since there wasn't a finalized agreement, Fieldstone hadn't paid any of that $4.7 million to West Deptford. Daws said there's at least one other developer interested in the project that had submitted a request for proposal last year.

Earlier Thursday evening, the committee voted to amend the budget to eliminate money from the Fieldstone deal as part of revenues.

At that point in the open public portion of the meeting, township treasurer Richard Giuliani said they were removing it because the negotiations were still ongoing.

A few hours later, those negotiations were over.


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