Local Developer Plans Court Action After Exton Square Mall Project Rejected by West Whiteland Board
In a setback for redevelopment efforts in the struggling Exton Square Mall, developer Abrams Realty & Development announced Monday that it intends to file a lawsuit against West Whiteland Township after the township's board of supervisors rejected its proposal to transform the mall into a mixed-use project featuring residential units and retail space.
The 75-acre property, which was purchased by Abrams Realty for $34.25 million in March, had undergone significant revisions before being presented to the planning commission last winter, including the removal of 73 townhomes in response to community concerns about traffic generated by the proposed development.
Despite these changes, the project still faced resistance from residents who voiced doubts about the township's ability to manage increased stormwater runoff and sewer capacity. West Whiteland's board of supervisors ultimately voted down the proposal, citing these very concerns.
According to township officials, the board's decision marks the conclusion of the review process for the project. However, Abrams Realty plans to challenge this ruling in court, vowing to "get it back on track quickly."
The original proposal had called for 381 apartments, 172 townhomes, and 165 units for older adults, with a total of 167,180 square feet of commercial space and office spaces totaling 48,743 square feet. While the township's planning commission had approved the project in August, citing compliance with zoning ordinances, the board of supervisors rejected it last week.
The decision will likely require Abrams Realty to revisit its master plan and scale back the number of homes included in the project if it seeks to comply with West Whiteland's updated zoning ordinance, which sets a density limit of six dwellings per acre. The demolition of the mall is not expected until 2027.
West Whiteland's township director of planning and zoning, John Weller, acknowledged that his office had reservations about the project but was surprised by the board's decision to reject it. The outcome is another blow to redevelopment efforts in the struggling Exton Square Mall area, which has faced significant challenges in recent years.
In a setback for redevelopment efforts in the struggling Exton Square Mall, developer Abrams Realty & Development announced Monday that it intends to file a lawsuit against West Whiteland Township after the township's board of supervisors rejected its proposal to transform the mall into a mixed-use project featuring residential units and retail space.
The 75-acre property, which was purchased by Abrams Realty for $34.25 million in March, had undergone significant revisions before being presented to the planning commission last winter, including the removal of 73 townhomes in response to community concerns about traffic generated by the proposed development.
Despite these changes, the project still faced resistance from residents who voiced doubts about the township's ability to manage increased stormwater runoff and sewer capacity. West Whiteland's board of supervisors ultimately voted down the proposal, citing these very concerns.
According to township officials, the board's decision marks the conclusion of the review process for the project. However, Abrams Realty plans to challenge this ruling in court, vowing to "get it back on track quickly."
The original proposal had called for 381 apartments, 172 townhomes, and 165 units for older adults, with a total of 167,180 square feet of commercial space and office spaces totaling 48,743 square feet. While the township's planning commission had approved the project in August, citing compliance with zoning ordinances, the board of supervisors rejected it last week.
The decision will likely require Abrams Realty to revisit its master plan and scale back the number of homes included in the project if it seeks to comply with West Whiteland's updated zoning ordinance, which sets a density limit of six dwellings per acre. The demolition of the mall is not expected until 2027.
West Whiteland's township director of planning and zoning, John Weller, acknowledged that his office had reservations about the project but was surprised by the board's decision to reject it. The outcome is another blow to redevelopment efforts in the struggling Exton Square Mall area, which has faced significant challenges in recent years.
I just don't get why they can't make up their minds about this project! First, they're gonna build 381 apartments and then suddenly say nope, let's scale it back to a few townhomes... like what's the big deal? It's all just development, right? 
And now they're saying we gotta reduce the number of homes even more because of some zoning ordinance that's only a few years old... come on! 
Can't they just get on with it and let some money into this economy? 
. what's next? a whole lot more red tape and bureaucratic hurdles for developers to jump through? this just smells like more of the same old resistance to progress 
. But at the same time, I can understand why the West Whiteland board of supervisors wouldn't want to take on more stormwater runoff and sewer capacity issues 
. It's a classic case of finding common ground, you know? Maybe Abrams Realty could revisit their master plan and scale back some of those homes to make it work 
.
. I'm curious to see how they'll appeal the decision and what the outcome will be 
It's like they're playin' a game of "let's make the Exton Square Mall even more irrelevant"! I mean, 2027? That's like, forever in development time... 
another mall trying to get rebuffed by a bunch of nitwits who just wanna keep everything status quo... like what's wrong with a lil' density boost? 381 apartments ain't gonna hurt nobody... and btw can we pls stop with the stormwater runoff drama already? it's not rocket science. Abrams should just scale back, build what they can & move on 
! I get that West Whiteland Township had concerns about traffic and stormwater runoff, but 381 apartments? That's a lot for one place 
... Maybe they can rethink their master plan and scale it back, like John Weller said 
. I'm not sure what's better here... the developer wants their money back but the community wants to avoid that extra stress 
this is crazy! I mean Exton Square Mall was already struggling and now they're trying to make changes and still can't get approval? 6 dwellings per acre is super strict, i guess its better than nothing