Old tower and new hopes for South Jersey river town

South Jersey crossing guard James Lee, who works in the dramatic shadow of the former Keystone Watchcase Co. building, calls Riverside "one square mile of happiness."

The blue-collar township where the Rancocas Creek meets the Delaware River is actually 1½ square miles - or even more, if you count the water.

And Riverside's recent history unhappily includes a 2006 backlash against immigrants from South America that ended in expensive litigation, bad publicity, and the loss of commercial vitality downtown.

But "good things are going on here," noted Lee, 72, who paused to chat after shepherding Riverside High kids across Pavilion Avenue near the RiverLine tracks.

He's right: The area around the intersection, long ago dubbed the "Golden Triangle" by township officials, is ready to welcome two high-end rental housing developments.

A proposal to build a 200-unit apartment complex on 12 vacant acres adjacent to the Keystone property will go before the township planning board Jan. 30.

In February, the board also is set to review plans to create 64 apartments in the old watchcase factory, which includes an eight-story clock tower looming over the once-industrial heart of town.

"It's a historic icon in South Jersey," said Bob Harris, vice president of Simshabs Capital Partners Ltd.

He added that his Brooklyn firm plans a first-class project, featuring an on-site "lifestyle assistant" and other amenities.

Mayor George Conard Sr. doesn't buy the notion that a luxe apartment building with a lifestyle assistant on the premises will be "too rich" for his town of 8,000, where plainspoken houses stand close by one another on many streets.

"I think [the luxury apartments] will work," said Conard, a Riverside resident for 42 of his 65 years.

"It's a unique location, a historic building, and the light rail [stops] there. The future looks great."

Riverside's prospects also look good from inside Meatshoppers, the 10,000-square-foot supermarket Luis Ordonez opened in December on Scott Street downtown.

Elsewhere on the street, hand-lettered "for rent" signs adorned several storefronts, and pedestrians were few. One optimistic placard promised that a shop called Sonia's Delights would open soon.

Meatshoppers was bustling, however: "So far, so good," said Ordonez.

A native of Ecuador now living in Edgewater Park, he said the township's controversial effort to crack down on landlords renting to undocumented immigrants, which eventually was rescinded, did little but drive away customers and businesses.

(But not residents, apparently: Census figures show Riverside's Latino population actually rose from 610 to 773 between 2005 and 2015.)

"I think everybody has settled in," said Conard, who as deputy mayor had supported the crackdown but now sees it as a mistake.

"People have accepted [immigrants]. They are in many towns in this area. It's a way of life now," he added.

The mayor also said he is pleased to see Meatshoppers open; Ordonez suggested that Riverside needs to be more helpful to small businesses.

"The town is more friendly than it was," he noted. "People are not scared. And that's a good thing."

Ordonez also predicts the Golden Triangle redevelopment projects "will be terrific" for Riverside - and longtime resident Pam Whitehouse agreed.

"It can do nothing but help," said the retired legal secretary, 61, who grew up in adjacent Delanco and remembers being "in awe" of the Keystone building and its tower. "There aren't a lot of things that produce revenue for the town."

From the service bays at Donovan's Automotive Inc., on Pavilion Avenue, owner Jim Donovan has an expansive view of the majestic, if moldering, pile of yellow bricks that is the Keystone building.

The longtime Riverside businessman, 57, doesn't see luxury apartments as too fancy for the town, either. "I'd like to see them go through with it," Donovan said. "It could be good for everybody."

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