A “For Lease” sign stands in front of a new building planned to house a Chipotle restaurant and Mattress Warehouse store in a shopping center at Allentown Road and Forty Foot Road in Towamencin on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024. Photo by Dan Sokil | The Reporter.
Deal with Harbor Freight done, plans for ‘Main Street’ possible in October
A long-awaited destination continues to take shape, and October could be a key month for two other projects in Towamencin.
Township officials heard an update this week from developer Mark Nicoletti about two much-discussed projects on Forty Foot Road.
“I’m happy to report that we continue to make progress with Chipotle. It’s coming out of the ground, right in front of your eyes, and should be open by the early fall,” he said.
In late August the developer gave the supervisors updates on two long-discussed projects, both revisions of concepts that have been promised for years. At Forty Foot and Allentown Roads, developer PSDC has proposed plans to revive the former Towamencin Village Shopping Center since the early 2010s, promising new tenants including Whole Foods inside a former grocery space, a new Target behind the center, new tenants including Harbor Freight, and a new building housing a Chipotle restaurant and Mattress Warehouse shop on a pad site adjacent to the center.
The Chipotle and Mattress Warehouse building is nearly complete, the developer told the board on Sept. 25, and "we have a deal with" Harbor Freight, to occupy a vacant space in the corner of the center.
"We'll be submitting for building permits next month for that. We're also going to be submitting for a new zoning next month, for the proposed Target and Whole Foods," Nicoletti said.
New sidewalks and curbs are poured in front of a new building planned to house a Chipotle restaurant and Mattress Warehouse store in a shopping center at Allentown Road and Forty Foot Road in Towamencin on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 2024.Farther south on Forty Foot, the developer has also promised a new "Main Street" development around the intersection of Forty Foot and Sumneytown Pike, which could include new apartments behind several vacant office buildings now owned or under agreement by the developer.
"We're also making a lot of progress with the township on our other project, Main Street, up the road. We've had a couple of submissions already, I think we just made our third," Nicoletti said.
"We're scheduled to go in front of the (township) planning commission on October 7th. I invite all of you to come. We'll be putting plans up, and you can see what we're talking about for Main Street," he said.
Based on feedback in that meeting, the developer could be back before the supervisors as soon as late October with revised plans for more feedback, he added.
Supervisor Kristin Warner then asked if the township had any updates on plans for a Super-Wawa proposed by another developer on the corner of Sumneytown and Forty Foot, and solicitor Bob Iannozzi said that plan "seems to be in somewhat of a holding pattern" as that developer completes the purchase of the Wawa parcel to combine it with an adjacent one.
"We've been awaiting that settlement for several months now, and that has yet to be rescheduled," he said.
"Wawa has secured their portion of the project, with the needed security for the improvements, and the developer will secure his portion once he goes to settlement," Iannozzi said.
In a recent meeting, the attorney added, he and the township manager and code director discussed recent contacts with Wawa regarding "some issues with debris on the site," and that developer will likely appear before the township's zoning hearing board on Oct. 3 to extend prior zoning relief granted for signage on the project.
"So the township has done everything that we need to do, to make this happen. It sounds like Wawa is doing what they need to do, so it's on the developer right now," Warner said.
Towamencin’s supervisors meet at 7 p.m. on Oct. 9, the township zoning hearing board next meets at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 3, and the township planning commission next meets at 7 p.m. on Oct. 7, all at the township administration building, 1090 Troxel Road. For more information visit www.Towamencin.org.
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