The Hooper-Caudina redevelopment area in Toms River. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
The forthcoming Veterans Administration outpatient clinic, to be located in Toms River, will be formally proposed to the township’s planning board Nov. 3, according to a filing notice.
FDS Toms River, LLC will pitch its proposal for the clinic, seeking preliminary and final site plan approval as well as a number of subdivisions and variances that the project requires.
The facility is being planned for what has become known as the Hooper-Caudina redevelopment area, and is expected to contain 480 parking spaces. The site is a township-designated redevelopment area situated between Seacourt Pavilion Shopping Center and the Esplanade Office Park on Hooper Avenue, behind the former and currently vacant Capital One bank. The location was selected in August against a competing property in Brick Township, where an existing VA Clinic is located. The new clinic will replace the Brick location, which suffers from overcrowding and chronic parking shortages.
According to the planning board filing, FDS – short for FD Stonewater, a Virginia-based boutique real estate and development firm –will propose a 73,000 square foot, two-story building for the new clinic. The sole variance being requested is a minor parking setback, while a design waiver is being requested for the loading dock area. The 9-acre site on which the VA complex would be constructed will be condensed into a single parcel with a dedicated block and lot number.
The site was selected as one of several finalist locations for the outpatient clinic and, as requested by the VA, the township and FD Stonewater worked cooperatively on refining the proposal and acquiring various parcels of land. The parcels included property owned by Fire Company No. 1 that made up the site needed for the facility. Additionally, concept plans and renderings were submitted with the proposal to the VA in September 2020.
The planning board hearing is scheduled for Nov. 3, 2021 at 6 p.m. at the Toms River Township municipal complex.
