What difference does a turnpike ramp make? In tiny Malvern, an E-ZPass interchange helped pave the way for billions of dollars in commercial and residential development in Chester County’s Great Valley.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike opened Exit 320 in December 2012. The Route 29 ramp has since transformed businesses and communities in the region.
And now, as the demand for offices has slowed, the area is seeing another rise in residential projects.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
- Leap of faith: Take a look at this long-vacant church in Society Hill that a family bought for $2.5 million in cash so they could turn it into a home.
- Tackling a problem: Learn about new protections in New Jersey that could help residents who own their homes but not the land they’re on.
- Rare property: Tour a Gladwyne estate that can be split into three lots and is for sale for $8.5 million.
- Transformation: Peek inside this couple’s Center City home in what used to be an office building.
— Michaelle Bond
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A residential wave
Chester County’s Great Valley has a lot going for it, which helps explain why it’s grown so much. One of its assets is the Pennsylvania Turnpike’s Exit 320.
After it opened, corporate office parks popped up and expanded, and thousands of people moved in, drawn by new jobs and suddenly easier commutes to Philly and the wider region.
In the last few years, the real estate landscape has shifted, and there’s less demand for offices. That’s led to a new rise in residential development.
- A 10.3-acre property on Swedesford Road is headed for demolition so it can be transformed into hundreds of apartments and thousands of square feet of dining and retail space.
- A developer just turned an empty office building in Exton into “hotel-apartments.”
- A 111-acre office park off Route 29 is for sale and is being marketed as a redevelopment opportunity.
The residential shift isn’t a surprise. There’s more demand for homes than there is supply, and families are looking for anything they can afford.
Keep reading to learn about other residential projects underway and find out why a project manager says he sees “a runway for more.”
A church for a home
Coming up with $2.5 million in cash actually seems like it was the easy part of the home search for Carrita Thomas and Jake Stein.
When they started, they had one child and were expecting twins, so the family needed more space.
Thomas and Stein loved Society Hill and wanted to stay in the neighborhood, but there weren’t many rowhouses for sale that had at least six bedrooms, on-site parking, and outdoor space. Houses that could work sold in a blink.
Then they saw a for-sale sign on a long-vacant church two blocks from their home.
They originally hadn’t wanted a fixer-upper, but they ended up with their neighborhood’s most glaring example.
Keep reading to find out why the sale was difficult, what the church looks like now, and how the couple is approaching renovations.
The latest news to pay attention to
- They own their homes but not the land. In N.J., a new law could help change that.
- The Philadelphia Housing Authority plans to reopen dozens of neglected properties that had been owned by a disgraced nonprofit.
- A former industrial site making up 10% of Kennett Square could become housing — after it’s decontaminated.
- The top half of an office building on West Market Street will be turned into apartments.
- A massive and controversial AI data center is under construction in South Jersey.
- Pennsylvania officials voted for a land deal that was widely opposed by residents in this Montgomery County town.
- A Gloucester County warehouse project has been undermined by a “rogue” employee and rival firm, according to a lawsuit.
- Twenty schools would close under a new Philadelphia School District plan to modernize buildings.
- Luxe listing: For $8.5 million in Gladwyne, an estate on almost 13 acres that can be split into several lots.
Home tour: Office turned apartment
17 Market West was the first major project in Philly to turn offices into apartments in the post-pandemic era.
Allison Levari and Frank DiMeo were some of the first tenants to move in last June.
The couple’s 1,200-square-foot apartment has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an open layout. The corner unit gets lots of natural light through large windows that Levari likes to open to let in fresh air and city sounds.
Light and views help define the transformed building, a property manager said. Alterra Property Group replaced old office windows when it converted the former Morgan Lewis building into a 299-unit apartment building.
There’s a yoga studio and pickleball and basketball courts. The rooftop has a saltwater pool, sauna, and cold plunge. The lounge includes a chef’s prep kitchen.
Peek inside Levari and DiMeo’s home and see whether you can tell it used to be office space.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo (from a friendlier snowfall) shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
Last week’s quiz featured a photo of the “Staircases and Mountaintops: Ascending Beyond the Dream” mural on the Martin Luther King Jr. Recreation Center at 22nd Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue.
That answer evaded everyone except super reader Lars W. I remember stumping him only once or twice in the three years that I’ve been writing this newsletter.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
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