A property once proposed for a 175-unit senior development is taking a very different path. Part of Cherry Hill's historic Holly Ravine property will soon be farmed again by Springdale Farm.
Here's something you don't hear very often in a community as developed as Cherry Hill:
Farmland is coming back.
Cherry Hill has leased approximately nine acres of the historic Holly Ravine property to Springdale Farm, the township's remaining working farm. The five-year lease will allow the Jarvis family, which has operated Springdale Farm since 1949, to grow crops on land along the same Springdale Road corridor. The remainder of Holly Ravine's preserved property, including the wooded ravine area, is expected to remain recreational open space.
What makes this story especially interesting is what almost happened there.
In 2023, a developer sought approval for a 175-unit senior living development on the roughly 23-acre Holly Ravine property at Springdale and Evesham Roads. Cherry Hill's Zoning Board rejected the proposal following lengthy hearings and community concern, including questions about traffic. The township later purchased the property for approximately $3.8 million specifically to preserve it as open space.
Now agriculture is returning to land that could have been developed.
That's a fascinating real estate story.
South Jersey desperately needs housing, including housing for seniors and people who want to downsize. But communities are also trying to preserve open space.
Those goals can compete with each other.
As a Realtor, I don't think every new development is bad or every preserved parcel is automatically better. The important question is whether a community is making thoughtful choices about where development belongs and where preservation makes sense.
Open space is also something buyers notice.
Parks, trails, trees and undeveloped land can be significant lifestyle amenities. But buyers should remember an important rule:
If you don't own the land behind your house, you can't assume it will always remain exactly as it looks today.
Find out who owns it. Find out how it's zoned. Ask whether development is possible.
Holly Ravine is different because Cherry Hill now owns and has preserved the property.
For longtime Cherry Hill residents who remember the old Cowtail Bar and Moo Zoo, there's also something pretty special about seeing part of this historic property used for farming again.
In a township where farms gradually gave way to neighborhoods, shopping centers and highways, Holly Ravine is getting an unexpected second chapter.
Instead of becoming another development, part of an old Cherry Hill farm will actually become a farm again.
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