COSTCO WHOLESALE

File photo of a Costco Wholesale store (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

LAWRENCE – Costco has closed a $9.4 million deal to purchase 17 acres in Lawrence for a new store near Quaker Bridget Mall, the seller of the property said Thursday.

The site plan for the 156,000-square-foot store includes a liquor store, a pharmacy, an optical services section, a tire sales and installation center, and a 16-pump gas station on a separate part of the land. The location also would include roughly 720 parking spaces, and Costco would employ 200 people.

Lawrence learned about the sale last week, but it is unknown at this point when the store will open, township manager Richard Krawczun said.

“Our understanding is that construction would begin in spring 2015,” Krawczun said, adding that demolition could begin sooner.

This store, located about one mile from Route 1, would be the only Costco in Mercer County.

The town first learned of Costco's interest more than two years ago when the landowner at the time, United States Land Resources of Morristown, asked the board to change the zoning at 4100 Quakerbridge Road.

The location between Lawrence Station Road and Avalon Way was zoned for senior housing until the planning board voted in September 2012 to change the town’s master plan. The site is near Lawrence's borders with Hamilton and West Windsor.

U.S. Land Resources officials argued that a zoning change to a "highway commercial" use would blend into the area, which lies just south of the Quaker Bridge Mall amid other commercial properties.

The planning board unanimously approved the plans for the store in September 2013.

There’s currently 200,000 square feet of industrial space on the site that will need to be demolished for Costco to move forward with its plans, said Lawrence Berger, of U.S. Land Resources.

The company had held the property for more than two decades, leasing it out to different commercial clients until the past few years when it remained vacant, Berger said.

Brendan McGrath may be reached at bmcgrath@njtimes.com. Follow him on Twitter @brendanrmcgrath. Find The Times of Trenton on Facebook.