Background
In 2015, a group of land investors purchased a defunct industrial site on the banks of the Schuylkill River in Conshohocken PA. The owners planned the land for an office headquarters with striking river views in a popular suburb of Philadelphia. Unfortunately, the site’s challenging access, among other limitations, made it unmarketable for office development. The owners then considered a residential townhome development for the site, noticing that very few new townhomes were being built in the vicinity. Despite Conshohocken’s abundant shopping and dining, recreational options, regional rail, and proximity to major commuting arteries, almost all new development was for upscale rental housing. The owners surmised that the site’s river front location, coupled with Conshohocken’s popularity, could be attractive for ownership townhomes. The owners reached out to Progressive New Homes to serve as the developer partner for such a development.
Challenges
The first challenge was the lack of examples of comparable townhome developments in this location. The surrounding properties were non-residential and unsightly with several vacant deteriorating commercial buildings. Washington Street itself – the main access road to the subject site — was rutted and narrow with deep puddles impairing access after a rain. From the east, access was constrained by a narrow lane of land owned by SEPTA and squeezing around an existing building.
The site itself had many constraints including:
- The site’s former use as a paint factory required environmental remediation.
- Alluvial soils required stone piers to be injected into the ground to provide bearing.
- The site’ location within the flood plain which would require special construction techniques and moisture resistant materials, a way to procure flood insurance for the units and which would be a potential market negative.
- Deeply embedded concrete footers from the original industrial buildings were difficult and costly to extract.
- The need for an expensive retaining wall to elevate the site from the floodplain.
In addition, Washington Street needed to be widened and resurfaced to make the approach presentable. Access from the east required gaining permission from SEPTA as well as construction improvements to enable the narrow lane passable. Finally, proximity to the Spring Mill train station, while an asset for future residents, also meant noise from passing trains.
The development costs associated with addressing these various site constraints were extremely high.
Solution
Without knowing for certain the potential market and to broaden market absorption, the developer designed two product types to appeal to both the millennial and empty nester markets: duplex townhomes with a front/back configuration and traditional townhomes. All homes had two-car garages on the ground floor, an important market consideration (as opposed to open air garages of commercial buildings in floodplains) which allowed for living spaces to be on the second through fourth floors.
The design lent itself to an efficient land plan providing for vertical buildings with river views, while achieving a density of 62 units on 5 acres. Such efficiency reduced costs per home which helped overcome the high site development costs. The use of efficient design resulted in the duplex townhomes being at a reasonable purchase price point for millennial first time homebuyers moving up from rental apartments. Base prices have been in the low $500’s for three bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms with over 75 percent selling to first time homebuyers. The larger townhomes, three bedrooms, plus a bonus room and 3.5 bathrooms have a base price in the low to mid $700’s. These homes, appealing to affluent empty nesters, offer an elevator option, extensive storage, and an oversized two car garage. All homes have roof decks, and most include rear balconies to capitalize on river views.
River Place is the inaugural development under Whitemarsh Township’s new Riverfront Development zoning. The result is the creative transformation of blight into a thriving new home community that meets the needs of an underserved homebuying market in the sought-after location of Conshohocken, Montgomery County.