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New homes planned for Lanning Square
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
By ALAN GUENTHER and LUIS PUGA Courier-Post Staff TRENTON The next big stage in Camden's redevelopment is about to move forward, Randy Primas, the city's chief operating officer, said Tuesday. By the end of the month, plans will be unveiled to build between 2,500 and 3,000 homes in the Lanning Square section of the city, Primas said. The neighborhood is between downtown and the waterfront. Construction will take place over the next five to six years, Primas said. The massive redevelopment effort comes little more than a month after Primas and other city officials announced a $1.2 billion project to build 5,000 homes in the Cramer Hill section over the next 10 years. The Lanning Square project will involve national and local developers, Primas said. It will be roughly half the size of the Cramer Hill redevelopment, but Primas said final cost estimates are still being tabulated. On a windy day in Camden, residents said they hoped the proposed rebirth of their neighborhood would include them. In the shadow of the closed Lanning Square School, Mirta Parilla mopped the floors of her son's home and worried about all the changes. "They are buying out this area and planning to make it like Philly's Society Hill," said the disabled South Fifth Street resident. "Where are the poor people going to go? I can't afford Cherry Hill, not on the money I make." For Marino Chaba, owner of the Jose Luis Supermarket at Royden and Henry Streets, the new homes could be good news for his business. "It could be better for me if they leave my business alone," he said in Spanish. For the past 10 years, Steve Quick, originally from Philadelphia, has come to enjoy living in Lanning Square. "I think the idea (of constructing) new housing is great," he said, "but they've got to give the people who have lived here 20 years preference." |