City leading suburbs in development activity

[billy ross]

Demand is high for rental units

After years of construction drought, the Philadelphia suburbs are having an uptick in new rental projects. In Center City, where building activity has been a more familiar sight, several large projects are under way and others are in the planning-approval stage.

"Ridge McLaren, who specializes in the sale of multifamily investment properties in the Philadelphia region for commercial real estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap, said 3,200 rental units were expected to be added to the Center City inventory by 2015, a 20 percent increase.

In addition, there are 1,067 units "in the ground and approved" in South Jersey and 2,500 in the Pennsylvania suburban counties around Philadelphia, McLaren said.

"Developers are focusing on Center City and transit-oriented, high-population areas in the suburbs" within commuting distance of Philadelphia and Wilmington, he said."



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Is tenant quality on the Main Line slipping? I've noticed in my Lower Northwest Philadelphia market that tenant quality has improved dramatically, but they have much higher standards than in the past, so I've been spending tremendous amounts of money upgrading units to match the new people's expectations. Faults that would have been acceptable in the past are no longer acceptable. That could be a result of better marketing, though.

"Though some parts of the suburbs, such as the Main Line, have become renter markets, in the sense that apartment-hunters can have their pick of units, more prospective tenants appear to have credit issues these days, said Helen Aster, president of Harrison Richards Inc., a property-management firm in Ardmore."



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I've said before and I'm still convinced that many of the 'apartments' being built in Center City are just stalking horses for condos for baby boomers to buy as soon as they can sell their suburban homes. When all that banks will finance is multifamily apartment buildings, it's amazing how many projects become multifamily apartment buildings, even if the exit strategy involves a conversion to condos down the road.

[eldondre]

I don't know about the stalking horse thing, there's room for new condos and the cc apartment market was completely ignored for a decade.
As someone from the suburbs, most of the people I knew (myself included) would have preferred much of the development to be in the city. the suburbs were nice but as every last field and farm got developed, they got less nice.
I find it hard to reconcile the statement that the main line is slipping with

"Developers are focusing on Center City and transit-oriented, high-population areas in the suburbs"

just about every main line town is a transit oriented development.
narberth, ardmore, bryn mawr...though the less storied more middle class main line tack on (west of bryn mawr) has fared better over the years (wayne, berwyn, malvern could all be considered TOD, perhaps strafford as well). Paoli remains the most interesting potential development on the line now that the Malvern project is under construction. some places have dated developments, I'm particularly thinking of St. David's and to some extent Paoli (though Pail has the old rail yards project to add new supply).

[billy ross]

I don't know about the stalking horse thing, there's room for new condos and the cc apartment market was completely ignored for a decade.
As someone from the suburbs, most of the people I knew (myself included) would have preferred much of the development to be in the city. the suburbs were nice but as every last field and farm got developed, they got less nice.
I find it hard to reconcile the statement that the main line is slipping with

just about every main line town is a transit oriented development.
narberth, ardmore, bryn mawr...though the less storied more middle class main line tack on (west of bryn mawr) has fared better over the years (wayne, berwyn, malvern could all be considered TOD, perhaps strafford as well). Paoli remains the most interesting potential development on the line now that the Malvern project is under construction. some places have dated developments, I'm particularly thinking of St. David's and to some extent Paoli (though Pail has the old rail yards project to add new supply).

I don't disagree. I think the article, while informative, was sloppily written. He's using anecdotal information from one office on the Main Line to say that the market is soft there, while I'd be more likely to attribute the negative info I was getting to a sloppy office. I also think that the examples he gave of transit-friendly towns in the burbs where development is heading were West Chester and Newtown Square, which to me are both non sequiturs.

I also want to echo your point about whether development is good or bad for an area. If the method of transportation in an area is car-based, more development tends to diminish overall QOL for the people already there (since it means more congestion, longer trip times, harder to make turns or go straight, etc), and thus they tend to try to slam the door shut behind them on new arrivals, and they fight development tooth and nail in the burbs. In a public transit or walking-based area, more development tends to increase overall QOL for the people already there, as trains and busses run more often and as more shops open up to serve the increased population, and with longer hours, too. Rittenhouse Square over the past few years is a great example of more people meaning more offerings for everybody and making the area more pleasant to live in or visit. Thus in a pre-automobile town, more development should be good, while in an automobile-era town, more development should be bad. It's interesting that the past few years have been kind to pre-automobile towns, and this trend looks to continue, with exurban areas suffering from decreased or flat demand and older towns like Phoenixville and West Chester and Narberth going through the roof, with dramatic increases in wealth in the older, pre-automobile towns - even in certain pedestrian and transit-friendly parts of the city too the changes in savior faire and wealth levels of the residents are striking. I dare say that it makes sense from an investment standpoint to buy in what used to be or still is a borough and to shy away from present or former townships, as a broad brush rule. I took the HSL from Norristown to Villanova with my son on Wednesday and it seems to me that Bridgeport is waiting to be discovered.

[Naveen]

I also think that the examples he gave of transit-friendly towns in the burbs where development is heading were West Chester and Newtown Square, which to me are both non sequiturs.

I don't know about Newton Square but West Chester doesn't have a commuter rail station. I assume there is bus service but without a train I'd put it fairly low in regards to "transit friendly" compared to any place on the Main Line.

El dondre's right about Paoli. And although farther off, I think Downingtown has potential too*.

*Emphasis on "potential".

[eldondre]

I don't know about Newton Square but West Chester doesn't have a commuter rail station. I assume there is bus service but without a train I'd put it fairly low in regards to "transit friendly" compared to any place on the Main Line.

El dondre's right about Paoli. And although farther off, I think Downingtown has potential too*.

*Emphasis on "potential".

they recently retimed/rerouted the buses to be feeder buses to the railroad so they use the highway...they used to make stops in corp parks but nobody used them. WC remains the town that probably needs transit the most and could even house some office development, followed by phoenixville. WC does remain incredibly walkable and basically looks like a philadelphia neighborhood transplanted into chester county.

[MarketStEl]

Newtown Square has no rail transit service.

The Chester County Commissioners were offered a choice by SEPTA back in the late 1980s about rail service in the county, which lost it in 1984: We can restore service to West Chester or extend it past Paoli. We all know what they chose. West Chester has not appeared to suffer appreciably because of that choice. It remains a classic American Small Town in form where Newtown Square never has been.

[Naveen]

Yeah, West Chester really is a jewel in Chester County. I wish it's walkable street grid had been expanded instead of the auto-based developments which sprung up around it.