Sprouts plans for Wall supermarket fall apart, but first Monmouth store sets opening date
WALL - A developer has pulled plans to build a Sprouts Farmers Market grocery store on the site of the former Lanes at Sea Girt property on Route 35.
Gottesman Real Estate Partners, which also owns Sea Girt Square shopping center next door, wanted to construct a 23,375-square-foot supermarket as well as 3,500 square feet of additional retail space, according to the development application.
The application had one hearing before the Wall Planning Board on Oct. 16. Last month, the hearing was carried to the board's May meeting, but now the application is off the table.
"We withdrew the application," the developer's attorney, Jennifer S. Krimko of Ansell Grimm & Aaron in Ocean Township, wrote in an email to What's Going There. No further information was available.
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During the October meeting, board members expressed concern about traffic, according to the meeting's minutes. There also was some discussion about the developer's need to include the 3,500 square feet of additional retail space next to the Sprouts market, and the zoning rule exceptions needed for the project.
"I can tell you a lot of our residents would like to see that lot empty," said Timothy J. Farrell, a township committeeman and planning board member, at the October meeting, according to a recording. He was the township's mayor in 2023. "We have so much traffic on 35. It's bringing something in that creates more traffic."
The decision to pull the Sprouts Farmer's Market comes as the grocer gets ready to open its first Monmouth store in Aberdeen.
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Sprouts, located at Aberdeen Plaza on Route 35 at Cliffwood Avenue and next to LA Fitness, has set the opening date for 7 a.m. June 7. The 22,708-square-foot store is part of what was the A&P supermarket.
The store is hiring 95 full- and part-time employees, positions that include department managers, assistant department managers and clerks, cashiers and courtesy clerks.
Two in-person hiring events will take place from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 1 and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 2 at the Hilton Garden Inn Edison/Raritan Center, 50 Raritan Center Parkway, Edison. Candidates may apply online in advance at www.about.sprouts.com/careers/. Walk-in applicants can also attend the event.
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Sprouts offers a "farmers market experience" with an open layout of produce in the store's center. It also has fresh, natural and organic products, including grocery, meat and seafood, deli, bakery, dairy, frozen foods and prepared foods. It also sells body care and vitamins.
David P. Willis, an award-winning business writer, has covered business, retail, real estate and consumer news at the Asbury Park Press for 25 years. He writes APP.com's What's Going There column and can be reached at dwillis@gannettnj.com. Please sign up for his weekly newsletter and join his What's Going There page on Facebook for updates.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Sprouts Farmers Market drops Wall grocery, sets Aberdeen opening date
