By Paul Schwedelson – Reporter, Philadelphia Business Journal
Nov 26, 2024
Plans for more than 400 apartments near City Avenue in Bala Cynwyd are moving forward at the site of a former office building that has recently been demolished.
Houston developer Hanover Co. recently purchased the 8.5-acre site at 111 Presidential Blvd. for $21.3 million from Amerimar Realty Co., according to Montgomery County property records. Demolition of Bala Pointe Office Center, the 172,710-square-foot office building that previously stood on the site, was completed this fall.
While Hanover Co. declined to comment, the demolition and sale show the firm’s project is making progress.
In September 2022, the Lower Merion Township Board of Commissioners approved Hanover Co.’s preliminary land development plan for a five-story, 425-unit apartment building with 25,564 square feet of ground-floor commercial space and a 676-spot parking garage in the building.
Renderings of the project presented to Lower Merion Township show a walkway connecting the two sides of the building. Commercial office or retail space would be situated along Presidential Boulevard. The plan included public gathering space and streetscape improvements.
The building is just west of I-676, near the City Avenue exit.
The development continues the trend of suburban office buildings being torn down for new uses.
In Dresher, BET Investments is demolishing three interconnected office buildings totaling 861,000 square feet at the former Prudential Insurance Co. campus. The developer is planning to build more than 900 residential units and 100,000 square feet of retail space and more. BET is also planning to tear down two or three one-story office buildings in Conshohocken, where it would build up to 200 apartments and more than 20,000 square feet of retail.
Next to the Cherry Hill Mall, mall owner PREIT is demolishing the nine-story, 116,742-square-foot One Cherry Hill office building and has submitted an application to Cherry Hill Township to build a 120,000-square-foot sporting goods store in its place.
Hanover Co.’s project lies within the City Avenue District, a business improvement district that has emphasized more connectivity between properties along City Avenue. Long known as an auto-centric thoroughfare, the City Avenue District released a master plan this past spring that called for a more walkable area with seamless connections.
“What we like about the project is it’s going to start connecting the dots,” City Avenue District CEO Bryan Fenstermaker said of the 111 Presidential site. “We’re trying to create this walkable community with connectivity. This will be that next piece on that side of the street.”
A big part of realizing that vision is breaking down the large blocks that cars currently dominate, Fenstermaker said. He also pointed to Federal Realty Investment Trust’s nearby six-story, 217-unit development which is under construction at the site of a former Lord & Taylor store at 121 E. City Ave. Nearly a mile from the Hanover Co. project, both are helping to fill in gaps along the corridor, Fenstermaker said.
Keystone Development & Investment has plans at 1 Belmont Ave. for a five-story building and six-story building connected by a bridge totaling 270 units and 36,000 square feet of retail. Plans at the Bala Plaza office campus call for apartments, a hotel and a retail center.
“Retail frontage and the creation of these paths for walking and biking along the front of these new development projects is going to be the key to getting connectivity for people from block to block,” Fenstermaker said. “That’s the beauty of the work that’s taking place here. We’re really thinking people first as these development projects come on.”
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