By Paul Schwedelson – Reporter, Philadelphia Business Journal

Jun 21, 2026

Updated Jun 22, 2026 8:09am EDT

City Avenue, once the epitome of suburban retail car culture, is being transformed as hundreds of residential units in various stages of development realize planners’ aspirations for a denser, more walkable environment.

The boom in Bala Cynwyd has been years in the making, the result of Lower Merion Township’s rezoning efforts in the 2010s.

“It’s working,” Federal Realty Vice President of Development Mark Brennan said during a recent panel event hosted by the Urban Land Institute. “We hope more development happens. This whole area’s been upzoned.”

Maryland-based Federal Realty Investment Trust opened the 217-unit Blayr building to residents on April 1. Two months later, the apartments are 55% leased, ahead of the developer’s anticipated timeline and projected to be full by the fall.

In addition to the Blayr, Hanover Co. is building 412 units with ground-floor commercial space at 111 Presidential Blvd. and Core Development is building 86 units and 3,500 square feet of retail at 206 Bala Ave.

“It’s coming together according to plan,” said Chris Leswing, Lower Merion Township’s director of building and planning.


If anything, Leswing wants to see even more density. Undeveloped parking lots along City Avenue are zoned to accommodate 20-story buildings, a signal that the township believes the sites can handle more density. His goal is for increased residential density and ground-floor retail to create a more pedestrian-friendly environment.

More than 13,000 residents already live within a 2.7-mile area that stretches along City Avenue, said Bryan Fenstermaker, City Avenue District CEO. Increasing residential density, which has been the missing piece for years, is finally coming to fruition.

“We really are trying to put people first,” Fenstermaker said. “And work with the developers as well as the government.”

Leswing said it took five years to rezone the area because of extensive community work. Neighbors eventually bought in, Leswing said, because they understood the appeal of improved walkability and more amenities. Trail connectivity and green space are requirements for new projects.

“We wanted to make sure we weren’t seeing these giant seas of parking lots,” Leswing said.

Federal Realty’s Blayr project at 145 E. City Ave. is now emerging as a model. The building has 16,000 square feet of retail, which will include quick-service restaurants Chopt and Naya and men’s grooming shop Hammer & Nails.

The Blayr development was built at the site of a former 120,000-square-foot Lord & Taylor, which was demolished after the department store closed in 2020. The same year, Federal Realty completed Delwyn, an 87-unit apartment building in the parking lot of the same shopping center. Federal Realty has now invested around $170 million in the City Avenue property, which has 190,000 square feet of retail space in addition to the 304 apartments.

While the amount of retail on the City Avenue stretch has decreased, the environment has changed.

As is the case throughout the Philadelphia region and across the country, big-box department stores are being replaced by food and beverage, service retail and residential uses.


Brennan described Blayr as his company’s “litmus test” to see if high density could truly work along City Avenue. Two months after opening to residents, he has his answer.

Brennan said more than half of the Blayr’s prospective residents say they’re interested in the apartment building because they work or already live nearby, meaning Federal Realty is pulling from a pool of people who are already in proximity.

Though detailed plans haven’t yet been formed, Brennan has his eyes set on two more development sites on the property. A former Chili’s restaurant at 175 E. City Ave. and more surface parking lot space nearby.

More development is being planned on the 1.1 million-square-foot Bala Plaza campus, which FLD Legend and the Adjmi family bought in 2023. The site spans 61 acres on the northeast corner of Belmont Avenue and St. Asaphs Road. The ownership group is discussing its first-phase plans with Lower Merion Township, Bobby Adjmi said. Previous owner Tishman Speyer had plans that called for more than 700 apartments, 200,000 square feet of retail space, a hotel and green space. Adjmi didn’t disclose how many units are now being planned.

Three years ago, Keystone planned to develop two apartment buildings with a combined 270 units at its One Belmont property along City Avenue, just south of the Bala Plaza campus. The development stalled and Keystone’s current plans are unclear. The firm didn’t respond to a request for comment.

The individual developments piece together a larger story on City Avenue. The density that developers, planners and residents desired is starting to arrive.

“It is happening,” Brennan said. “Ten or 15 years later, but we’re finally getting it.”