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City officials on Tuesday provided details of a $1.2 billion development project for the Cramer Hill neighborhood that will bring the community into the city's massive revitalization effort through mostly private dollars.

"For Camden, this is the first time in a long time that someone has come knocking on our door," Mayor Gwendolyn Faison said.

That someone is Cherokee Investment Partners of Raleigh, N.C., which is scheduled to be designated the project's official developer at this morning's Camden Redevelopment Authority meeting.

The meeting will be followed by another project announcement from Gov. James E. McGreevey at City Hall.

The 10-year project will transform an 88-acre landfill on Harrison Avenue into a housing and retail center. An 18-hole golf course also is planned.

That alone will give residents an eyeball full of the Cooper and Delaware riverfronts, which have been obscured by overgrowth on the former landfill since the 1960s.

"When (Cherokee) came in and looked, they looked at a waterfront," said Melvin "Randy" Primas, the city's chief operating officer.

The project area is bound by the Cooper and Delaware rivers to the west; 36th street to the north; the Pavonia rail yard to the east; and East State Street to the south.

Most of the development and demolition would take place west of River Road.

The proposal includes plans for 5,000 new residential units, 1,000 of which will be designated as affordable housing. Of that, 600 to 800 will be rental units, Primas said. The rest will be owner-occupied.

The project will include a new bridge that will link Admiral Wilson Boulevard to Cramer Hill. And a new thoroughfare will be built between River Road and the Delaware, possibly along Harrison Avenue.

The city will see $10 million in new tax revenues and the creation of 7,000 jobs, Primas said, adding that 1,500 of those jobs will be permanent.

The Ablett Village and Centennial Village apartment complexes will be demolished to make way for the project.

Primas said many of the 700 families who will be relocated because of the project currently live in Ablett, a public housing complex, and Centennial, a private complex.

The project also will include a major retail development component, said Primas, who noted "big box" stores are possible but gave no specifics.

"I can see River Road as a Main Street," he said.

Primas emphasized that none of the project details, with exception of the golf course, are set in stone.

"We have a long way to go and there may be hurdles and bumps along the way," he said.

One bump may be with the school district, which has its own plans for George Washington School on Cambridge Street.

"We need to take a look at (the district's plans)," Primas said. "They are amenable to sitting down with us."

Warren Sykes, the school board president, said Tuesday he could not comment on the project proposal because he had not seen it.

Primas, Faison, and Council President Angel Fuentes emphasized they hope to relocate most people back into Cramer Hill.

"We are not pushing people out," Faison said. "We are actually helping them."

Fuentes, who lives in the neighborhood, said the project will go a long way to improving the city's image.

"The perception has been that crime has always been an issue," he said. "We need to show people outside of the city that it's OK to come to Camden."

Reaction from neighborhood residents and businesses was mixed, with some eager to see the neighborhood transformed and others worried about their own circumstances.

"If they're going to make Camden better, I like the idea," said Eliseo Carmona, 42, of the 1900 block of Pierce Avenue.

"It doesn't sound too good," said Myra Bonilla, 48, of the 1100 block of North 20th Street.

"It's not right," said Centennial Village resident Betsy Santiago, 19. "Where are we going to live?"

Businesses took a wait-and-see attitude about the project. Some worried about whether they would be asked to relocate. Others could only think of the rebirth opportunities.

Carl Holscher, co-owner of Crescent Bottling Co. on River Road, hoped this project would fare better than a similar proposal years ago that died from, in part, lack of community support.