The site offers an excellent opportunity to remake an abandoned brownfield industrial site by creating a neighborhood town center with retail, employment, residential, and recreational components.
The former Anchor Glassworks site presents Aberdeen Township, New Jersey
with an exceptional opportunity to promote smart and dynamic growth
within an existing setting. The site offers an excellent opportunity to
remake an abandoned brownfield industrial site by creating a
neighborhood town center with retail, employment, residential, and
recreational components. Ideally situated adjacent to regional transit
corridors, the site also allows future development to utilize existing
transportation infrastructure. Design strategies target both social and
environmental objectives, with particular emphasis placed on creating a
vibrant and sustainable public realm.
The Glassworks is proposed as an exciting new mixed-use community that
is designed with a focus on creating a great public realm. All of the
best principles of Traditional Neighborhood Design (TND) have been
utilized to create features such as walkable streets lined with retail
and other amenities, a public plaza filled with both retail and civic
activities, greens and parks for both recreation and repose, all of
which are framed by pedestrian scaled buildings. The additional
benefits of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) are realized with the
creation of a commuter station on the existing rail line bordering the
site and a commuter bus station.
The Festival Market at Station Square terminates Main Street at its
eastern end and will serve as the principal civic gathering place for
the community; it is designed around the new station, retail and civic
structures, and the four preserved smokestacks from the original
glassworks factory; glass studios with exhibition space for artists, as
well as kiosks, shops, and restaurants will all be located here; a
public meeting hall located above a retail market house will provide
valuable accommodations for community gatherings and events. When fully
realized, The Glassworks will provide an exceptional neighborhood
destination for work, shopping, entertainment, and living.