By any yardstick, the project is massive. Cherokee's plan, as approved by the city council, calls for at least 5,000 new residences, some 500,000 sf of retail space and a new marina on the Delaware River. The plan also calls for turning a 90-acre landfill within the tract into an 18-hole golf course. And in the retail category, it would bring so-called "big-box" stores to a city that has none.

The project isn't without controversy. Prior to the city council vote, almost three dozen local citizens weighed in with testimony against it, mostly citing displacement of existing residents. According to local estimates, at least 1,000 homes, mostly single-family, would be razed to make way for Cherokee's project, and a number of are residents and businesses have threatened legal action.

Nonetheless, "Cramer Hill has existed as an underutilized and environmentally degraded area for far too long," according to Arijit De, executive director of the Camden Redevelopment Agency. "The redevelopment will bring in private capital and enhance the quality of life."