LOWER POTTSGROVE PA – A proposal to build a 125-room hotel, two restaurants, and a 200-unit apartment complex and clubhouse, all at the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, narrowly won preliminary approval Monday (Dec. 2, 2024) from the Lower Pottsgrove Township Board of Commissioners.
If and when fully developed, the project would span acres of land located at 147 Evergreen Rd., and 209 and 211 S. Park Rd. The parcels are on the west side of Evergreen Road, north and west of its intersection with Castle Road. It would be separate from, but adjacent to, the Wawa fuel and convenience store now under construction in the same area.
Preliminary approval is the first of many steps needed to make the mixed-use development, offered by property owner and developer Sanatoga Land Holdings LP, a reality. Although its Monday presentation to the board involved several maps and “concept” drawings, both the township Planning Commission and the Board of Commissioners have yet to review specifics.
The entire plan could take years to complete, township officials agree.
Two Commissioners’ Objections
The proposal comes as no surprise, an attorney for the property owner observed during the board discussion. Township and company representatives have for several years been talking about, and acting on, legal issues enabling the development to proceed.
A close 3-2 final vote by the five-member board, however, was preceded by two commissioners’ voiced concerns that Sanatoga Land Holdings seemed to be less than the project “partner” they hoped for. Opponents William Keohane and Michael McGroarty both suggested the company had earlier raised what they considered unwarranted objections to, or resulting from, competing development efforts nearby.
Keohane claimed the negative tone of recent correspondence between the developer and Lower Pottsgrove “contradicted” the company’s “stated desire to partner with the township in this project.” McGroarty agreed: “it doesn’t feel to this point like a partnership in getting this proposal to the end,” he added.
Company representatives did not publicly respond to their comments.
An Overview of the Proposal
The parcels involved include steep slopes, “severe grade changes,” and flood plain areas, and are included within the township’s Gateway Mixed-Use (GMU) District. The district was created for “planned, mixed-use, medium-scale, commercial development near the Sanatoga Interchange area south of state Route 422.”
Proposed for the property are:
- A “quick-service restaurant” of 2,594 square feet with a drive-through and 24 parking spaces. It is likely to be the first building erected, and was said to be a McDonald’s franchise;
- A second quick-service restaurant of 2,249 square feet with drive-through and 22 parking spaces. No brand name for it was mentioned;
- A five-story hotel with 125 rooms and 158 parking spaces, again with no mention of a brand name;
- A four-story apartment building with 46 units and “tucked-under” garages, and 76 parking spaces;
- A clubhouse that would service the apartments, and an adjacent playground;
- A three-story apartment building with 54 units and 88 parking spaces;
- A four-story apartment building with 50 units and garages, with 83 parking spaces;
- A four-story apartment building with 50 units and garages, with 82 parking spaces; and
- About 6.2 acres of open space.
Near South Park Road the developer would reserve, for a period of two years after “build-out,” land for 70 future parking spaces, if needed. If undeveloped it would remain as green space, developer’s attorney Julie Von Spreckelsen said.
For stormwater management, the project would make use of seven proposed holding basins, three of which would be subsurface, or below ground.
Renderings Only ‘Conceptual’
The district imposes some specific requirements about the look and feel of the development, Von Spreckelsen acknowledged. Bohler Engineering representatives displayed architectural renderings that attempted to show consistencies in color, materials, form, and design of several buildings.
The attorney warned the renderings were only conceptual, and may not reflect actual construction.
Photos by Travels With The Post
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