Residential Plan for Steel Site Presented to Council

After receiving some mixed feedback at the last Phoenixville Planning Commission meeting, the potential developers of what’s known as Parcel Q on the steel site came before borough council at a special meeting Tuesday evening.

Council President Richard Kirkner said the group was there “at my invitation as council president” for an informational presentation. The plan calls for 350 high-end apartments, managed by Madison Apartment Group, which manages 20,000 units nationwide and Madison at Westridge locally on Township Line Road.

Seth Shapiro of Barton Partners, the architects and planners for the project, said the design was not nailed down yet, but the six multi-level structures would likely have a “modern and funky feel.” The proposed community would include both one- and two-bedroom apartments, with 60 percent one-bedroom in the early plans.

One of the main issues that the planning commission had with the plan was that it excluded a planned roadway, the French Creek Parkway. During the presentation, whether or not the road should—or could—be built was questioned by the representatives of BPG.

Shapiro showed council members two 3D models of a potential parkway. Those models were done after the planning commission meeting on Nov. 10. Taking the 100-year floodplain into consideration and leaving the road in the current proposed area, Shapiro said the bridge would have to be 98-feet tall at its bottom to accommodate the floodplain and it would have to be a seven-span structure.

“It would effectively cut this project off from the center of Phoenixville,” Shapiro said.

Along with the seven-span structure, Shapiro also showed a three-span structure in a different location further up the creek. That would require a 90-degree turn to fit prior plans. The estimated cost, Shapiro said, of the bridge and the parkway for the seven-span structure would be $22 million—$15 million for the bridge and $7 million for the road. The three-span structure would cost approximately $13 million, Shapiro said.

Following the presentation, Kirkner said he could see the restrictions placed on a developer when it came to the responsibility of building the planned parkway.

“This seems to be where were going as far as the bridge or the parkway,” Kirkner said. “If we’re going to hold one developer or one parcel to that kind of public infrastructure on the site, then nothing’s going to happen here.”

At the planning commission meeting, John Forde, vice president of BPG, let it slip that the development would likely cost in the neighborhood of $40 to $50 million, sans parkway and bridge. Internal roads are planned and the sole access point for the proposed development would be on Main Street.

The development, according to Shapiro, was largely planned around an existing pedestrian bridge—a link that would potentially be cut off if the French Creek Parkway is built, he explained. Representatives of BPG said that no matter whether or not public funding does come through for the proposed parkway, the developer would be willing to preserve the easement for the roadway.

When asked by Councilman James Evans if there was enough of a market to fill out 350 apartments in addition to possibly 275 others planned for the steel site’s Parcel O by O Creek Associates, Forde said the market will be there.

“This is where young people and renters-by-choice want to be,” Forde said, explaining that Phoenixville is the next stop like that on the river up from Manayunk and Conshohocken.

He said that the development, called Madison at French Creek, would be heavily marketed to attract potential tenants.

Kirkner told council he felt the plan is a viable option. Explaining that he was on council when the master plan for the steel site was developed, the council president said that the original plan calls for executive long-term stay apartments.

“I think for about 20 minutes in the 1990s that was a viable economic model,” Kirkner said.

More residents will help make the other aspects of borough more viable, Kirkner said, and he added that he liked that the plan promotes walkability.

Mayor Leo Scoda asked the representatives about the potential effects the residential buildings may have on the school district. Forde said that Madison properties generally don’t attract a large number of children, and he said that when tenants start having kids, they generally move out and seek a single home they can own.

Following the presentation, Council Member Jennifer Mayo said she appreciated the plan that the developers presented.

“I think they did the best they could with what they have,” Mayo said.

She added that she liked the incorporation of open space—the plan shows more open space than the master plan for the site—as well as the inclusion of the bluffs and the focus on the existing pedestrian bridge.

The developers are still in the sketch plan stage for the plan and would have to present the preliminary plan to the planning commission for Parcel Q. According to Borough Manager Jean Krack, no official plans have been submitted, but the potential developer could still get on the planning commission’s Dec. 8 meeting agenda.