A lease has been signed with a grocery store for the former Genuardi’s Market space at The Shops at Town Square, formerly Towamencin Shopping Village, at Allentown and Forty Foot roads. The name of the tenant, however, cannot be revealed for at least a few more months, as negotiations are being finalized and the architectural process moves along.
The Towamencin Township Planning Commission Monday night unanimously recommended preliminary and final land development approval to the board of supervisors for the interior renovation and loading dock relocation of the entire former supermarket site, which is owned by the township’s largest landowner and developer, Philadelphia Suburban Development Corporation (PSDC). Planning Commissioners Dennis McGeehan and Douglas Leach were absent from the meeting.
Engineer John Anderson, P.E., of Cornerstone Consulting Engineers & Architectural Inc., the consultant tasked by PSDC to oversee the land development process, said he was not allowed to reveal who signed the lease.
“I think it was already divulged in many cases, but I just want to keep my Non-Disclosure Agreement. It’s definitely not Genuardi’s or Clemens,” he said in jest.
Over the years, Facebook users on the Citizens for the Revitalization of Towamencin group have posted their rumors of tenants coming to the shopping center, which range from Trader Joe’s and Wegman’s to Amazon Fresh and Target.
“PSDC has a tenant with an active lease right now,” said Anderson. “They are going through architectural plans and so forth and have to get to the land development process, but the proposed supermarket tenant will take the entire space of the old Genuardi’s … The only ones not signed are the pad sites out front (on Forty Foot Road). It is important for PSDC to get a tenant in as fast as possible.”
He said the new tenant could be revealed after the second quarter of 2022, but any construction on the site would not occur until next year.
“If we can get through all the township approvals, and we are working on façade improvements now and that will be finished in 2023,” Anderson said. “There are significant improvements that need to be done, so I don’t think it will be this year.”
The land development proposal also includes a new signalized entrance across from Newbury Way, which will connect to a new interior driveway joining the SKF property with the shopping center. Two new retail pad sites, of which lease negotiations are not finalized, are reserved on either side of the new entrance.
Exterior renovations include new tractor trailer thoroughfare, two electric vehicle chargers, and a reconfigured interior accessway that will eliminate the current access to Wells Fargo Bank and make a new entrance through the existing median along the Forty Foot Road entrance located between the bank and Wendy’s.
Anderson said the old loading dock location “wouldn’t work well for this next tenant,” so the applicant has proposed to move it to the far-right rear corner of the building, which would allow more room for two tractor trailers.
Anderson said the old delivery driveway will be reconfigured and illuminated to create another entrance for tractor trailers.
“Tractor trailers would then be able to access the signalized intersection at Allentown Road, into the shopping center, and access behind the space, or move through the new entrance and come into the back and into the new loading area,” he said.
Specific parking spaces out front will be reserved for grocery pickup, Anderson said.
“You can order on the internet or phone, and people will come in and park at these pickup locations and the groceries will be brought out to them,” he said.
Anderson said the new interior driveway would continue across from its current intersection near Wendy’s and Wells Fargo, alongside the old Genuardi’s building, and continue through to the new Newbury Way entrance and SKF.
“With this new driveway that comes across the side of the old Genuardi’s building, we felt that an entrance to the bank along that drive was too close to the intersection, so we are looking at a curb break in the existing median to allow you to go into the bank,” Anderson said. “In future applications, we will have a connection into (the neighboring pad site) into the bank.”
Anderson said the existing configuration for the shopping center can make it very confusing for drivers trying to access the center.
“What we’re trying to do is make it more of a 4-way intersection, with two stop controls on the east and west access, and northern and southern traffic movements. We are creating more of a restrictive entrance into the bank, and then open it up when the pad site comes to fruition.”
Planning Commissioner Patricia Younce stressed the importance of sidewalks along the new entrance across from Newbury Way. Anderson said the plan shows connectivity to the current walking/bicycle path along Forty Foot Road.
“In the first phase of the entrance construction, you have a pedestrian walkway, and then the pedestrian walkway along the northern side of the driveway into the shopping center,” Anderson said. “I know supervisors are very concerned about pedestrian access, and we’re trying to provide that throughout different phases of development.”
Planning Commissioner Mark Chartrand recommended the developer look into updating all signage and striping in the site.
“Obviously, the shopping center has been there a long time, so things have worn out and signs may have been removed,” he said. “There was a woman who was queued up to try to go left, at the entrance section between Wendy’s and the bank building, and she was just sitting there in her car. I pulled up alongside her and told her she was in the entrance lane. I don’t know if she wasn’t pay attention.”
Anderson said it was included in the Planet Fitness development application to update all signage throughout the center.
“PSDC is working with their contractor Peak to get all those items resolved,” Anderson said. “We are not sure where they are in scheduling, but they are aware of it.”
Planning Commissioner Nancy Becker said she was glad something is happening at the location.
“It took a long time,” Anderson said. “You see the façade improvements going on now. The reason why it looks the way it does in front of the old Genuardi’s is because that tenant has specific improvements they are doing. But yes, it’s exciting to see.”
As far as the rest of the commercial condominium units at the center, Anderson said there was talk about Donato’s Pizza going in at the old Indian restaurant, but “that was a while ago.” Anderson said PSDC owns every retail spot at the shopping center, except for the Wendy’s parcel.
“Typically, with small retail tenants, they wait for the big guys to get in there. Once the market is in, we will start to see a lot of movement. It’s a very difficult climate now,” he said.
Becker asked Anderson if PSDC would consider providing footpath access between the Planet Fitness and the shopping center to access the Tennis-Lukens Cemetery, located along the northeast corner of the shopping center. The landlocked parcels behind the cemetery will be the site of the future Veterans Memorial Park, which is in the early design stages. Anderson said he would visit the site Tuesday and discuss it with PSDC, and report back at a future time.
See also:
Chipotle, Mattress Warehouse Confirmed in Towamencin Shopping Village Revitalization
Planet Fitness Coming to Former Sears Hardware in Towamencin Following Health Club Use Approval
The Store Outfitters in Towamencin to Close After Nearly 70 Years
Multiple Businesses Eyeing Locations at Towamencin Village Shopping Center
PSDC Moves Closer to Retail, Age-Restricted Housing on Forty Foot Road
