The Sanatoga Post

LIMERICK PA – Exelon Nuclear, which is credited for its financial support of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township’s summer concert series, on Tuesday (Feb. 7, 2012) delivered a $150,000 donation to its host municipality, neighboring Limerick Township, to pay for programs and facilities of the Limerick and Linfield Fire companies, its police department, and local parks and recreation.

The check, presented to the Board of Supervisors by Limerick Generating Station (LGS) Site Vice President Bill Maguire, represented the fourth installment of a $600,000 Exelon contribution to the township during the past four years.

“Our goal at (LGS) is to be both a leader in our community and in the nuclear industry,” Maguire said. “Exelon employees have been, and will continue to be, deeply involved in the community, and this contribution demonstrates our ongoing commitment to Limerick … and the region.”

Municipal officials welcomed Exelon’s gift. LGS, supervisors’ chairman Kara Shuler said, “is a valuable member of our community and we look forward to having them here for many years.”

Exelon is currently in the process of renewing its nuclear Units 1 and 2 operating licenses for another 20 years. The station is located at 3146 Sanatoga Rd. in Limerick, just east of the Lower Pottsgrove-Limerick townships’ line.

Exelon spokeswoman Dana Melia noted the company also contributes more than $400,000 each year to regional charities and community organizations.

Photo by Sean Bonner via YFrog

BALL FIELD MAINTENANCE UNDER WAY – Mounds of earthen material (above) were found piled high Thursday afternoon (March 17, 2011) on the ball fields at Limerick (PA) Township Community Park, Swamp Pike and Ziegler Road, Limerick PA, as the its Parks and Recreation crew begins its final push to ensure the fields and park as a whole are ready for their grand re-opening during the first weekend of April (2011). The park’s restrooms and many of its facilities have been closed for what seemed to be an almost interminable winter season. Its Manderach Memorial Playground remains open, however, during regular park hours except for the first Monday of each month, when maintenance is conducted between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. Thanks to vigorous fund-raising by the parks department and local volunteers, and a $3,225 loan unanimously authorized Tuesday (March 15) by the township Board of Supervisors, the park also will benefit before June from the installation of Biggo Duo swings (left) geared toward children ages 5-12. Supervisors praised the department and Director Karen Hegedus for its work.

LIMERICK PA – Spring 2011 is the now-official target date for opening a Costco wholesale store and accompanying gasoline station as the anchor tenant of the Gateway At Sanatoga shopping center on the south side of the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, center developer O’Neill Properties Group announced Tuesday (June 29, 2010).

The company had said earlier Costco would be open sometime during 2010.

An artist's rendering shows a proposed Costco Warehouse store in the O'Neill Properties Group "Gateway At Sanatoga" project.

Beyond confirming that Costco’s construction was still moving ahead, there was little else new in the company’s five-paragraph press release. It noted that:

• Costco had already bought the 14-acre parcel on which it will build;
• The Gateway project is expected to consist of 450,000 square feet of retail space constructed in two phases, of which Costco and 76,000-square-feet of additional retail, restaurant, and bank space would constitute Phase 1; and
• Gateway’s second phase, of another 190,000 square feet of space, was slated to open in Fall 2011 but its “anchors, junior boxes, specialty retail, hotels and restaurants” are still being sought.

The release also re-emphasizes that O’Neill’s project, on mostly vacant fields bounded by Evergreen and Lightcap roads and the eastbound interchange on-ramp to 422 in Limerick (PA) Township, would be the gateway (hence the name) to the 150-store Philadelphia Premium Outlets mall just east on Lightcap.

Promotional material distributed earlier this year to potential tenants by King of Prussia PA-based O’Neill makes the point more bluntly. “ALL traffic to The Outlets must pass through our site first!,” (capitalization and punctuation both are the developer’s usage) it states as a prime selling point for retailers at the top of the second page of a 13-page brochure.

The funnel-like nature of increased traffic on Evergreen Road through Gateway to the outlets has been a continuing source of concern by area residents. O’Neill in December (2009) won approvals from the Limerick Township Board of Supervisors for its Phase 1 plans, which did not contain improvements to Evergreen.

The company reportedly agreed to pay $1 million, in the form of a donation and traffic impact fees, to Limerick as part of its requirements for the approvals. However, it is not yet apparent that amount will be specifically earmarked for Evergreen enhancements or, if so, whether it will be sufficient to pay for them.

Limerick and Lower Pottsgrove Township have a working agreement to coordinate planning, zoning and traffic efforts for properties surrounding the interchange.

Related:

• Developer Sets New Costco Date: Spring 2011
• New Activity Stirs For Gateway At Sanatoga Project
• Costco Approved Without Traffic Improvements (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Gateway Endorsed By Limerick Planners (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Project Faces Limerick Zoning Decisions
• Sanatoga Shopping Project On Limerick Zoning Agenda
• More Web Searches Seek ‘Sanatoga Springs’
• Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
• Sanatoga Springs Promotion In Flux
• Townships Agree To Interchange Planning
• Township Interviews For ‘Bigger Picture’
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
• The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
• County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
• Improving The Odds At The Interchange
• More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
• Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
• Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
• A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”

Artist’s rendering from O’Neill Properties Group

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An artist's rendering of the proposed Gateway At Sanatoga project.

LIMERICK PA – With its Uptown Worthington shopping center set to open 24 miles away in Malvern next month, and fresh out of a Philadelphia courtroom Monday (June 21, 2010) – where it has lodged an $297 million lawsuit against a regional bank – it may be that O’Neill Properties Group is ready to turn its attention back to Limerick (PA) Township and the languishing Gateway At Sanatoga retail project.

O’Neill, the King of Prussia PA-based developer that first proposed Gateway (initially known as “Sanatoga Springs”) during August 2008, has not made any public announcements to that extent. However surveyors and other small work crews have been seen on the project site, at the southwest side of the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, during the past two weeks.

In addition, a 13-page promotional brochure which the company refers to as a “pattern book” and which is dated 2010 insists Gateway’s first tenant, a Costco warehouse store, intends to open before year-end. Costco representatives could not be reached Thursday (June 24) for confirmation, although construction sources say it is unlikely the store would be completed and operating within six months.

The same brochure indicates that, in addition to Costco, O’Neill also has secured commitments for an L&T outlet store of clothing retailer Lord & Taylor, an Off 5th outlet store of Saks Fifth Avenue, and a Bloomingdale’s unit.

News about Gateway has been scarce since December (2009), when the Limerick Board of Supervisors approved a list of waivers for the project. No construction schedule was announced at the time.

Both Limerick and neighboring Lower Pottsgrove Township continue to collaborate on plans to control development across what is called the interchange district. Just last week, Lower Pottsgrove’s Board of Commissioners authorized a consultant to draw up an official district map to graphically show builders and property owners how it wants traffic to flow there. Limerick approved a similar map earlier in the month.

O’Neill is a company accustomed to juggling many balls at once; it currently has residential, mixed use, and commercial projects under way in several states. Its attention has been focused lately, however, on Worthington, where a Wegman’s supermarket similar to the one in Collegeville and a Target department store are scheduled to open in July; and on a lawsuit over financing for Worthington that pits O’Neill against Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania.

Attorneys for O’Neill and Citizens were Philadelphia Common Pleas Court on Monday, arguing over the merits of O’Neill’s claim that the bank did not provide funding the company said it had promised.

Related:

• New Activity Stirs For Gateway At Sanatoga Project
• Costco Approved Without Traffic Improvements (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Gateway Endorsed By Limerick Planners (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Project Faces Limerick Zoning Decisions
• Sanatoga Shopping Project On Limerick Zoning Agenda
• More Web Searches Seek ‘Sanatoga Springs’
• Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
• Sanatoga Springs Promotion In Flux
• Townships Agree To Interchange Planning
• Township Interviews For ‘Bigger Picture’
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
• The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
• County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
• Improving The Odds At The Interchange
• More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
• Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
• Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
• A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”

Artist’s rendering from O’Neill Properties Group

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SANATOGA PA – In its latest cooperative effort with Limerick (PA) Township to frame the future of development surrounding the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners authorized a consultant Thursday night (June 17, 2010) to create an official map that graphically shows builders and property owners how it expects the area’s traffic to flow.

Consultant Peter Simone talked to commissioners about traffic flow on properties surrounding the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422.

The map, already in draft form and displayed to commissioners during their second meeting of the month in the municipal building on Buchert Road, indicates much of the development on vacant land within Lower Pottsgrove’s boundaries both north and south of the interchange would be along five-lane boulevards interspersed by two-lane feeder roads and an occasional traffic circle.

The map does not commit commissioners to any particular feature, according to consultant Peter Simone of Simone Collins, a Berwyn PA-based landscape architecture firm upon which the township has relied for several years. “It doesn’t force you to act in any way,” Simone reassured the board. “But it helps them (developers) know what you want, and it gives you options to act,” he said of the map.

Limerick Township supervisors authorized their portion of the map earlier this month. The Lower Pottsgrove board followed suit, unanimously, at a cost estimated to be about $1,500 or less. The maps are being coordinated by Traffic Planning and Design Inc., the Sanatoga company that serves as transportation engineer for both municipalities. TPD will ensure “the roads line up with what Limerick is also doing,” Simone noted.

Once Lower Pottsgrove’s map is completed, the board could hold appropriate hearings and ultimately adopt it as part of its planning code.

Simone and township officials have met on several occasions with several property owners and developers known to have an interest in attracting business to the interchange. There have been “few if any discussions about the roads as they’ve been laid out,” according to Simone. “The real discussions are about what’s going to happen with the zoning.”

Proposed zoning and property usage requirements yet to be adopted by commissioners will dictate what can be built within the area, where, for what purposes, and how. Those changes, initially created in draft form two years ago, were put on hold as Limerick and Lower Pottsgrove agreed to cooperate on interchange planning.

“We would like to build in as much flexibility in the zoning as possible, so developers have options too,” Simone said. “They’re all over the place with ideas about what they want to do with their properties, because the (real estate) market’s been so crazy.”

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SANATOGA PA – Talks are continuing between Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships on how best to coordinate their needs, desires, and dreams for the future of commercial development at the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422.

The neighboring municipalities agreed last May (2009) to collaborate on a master plan for land use surrounding the interchange, which is divided by the townships’ common boundary. Their staffs and selected elected officials have met several times since, most recently in mid-January (2010), according to Lower Pottsgrove Commissioner Michael McGroarty.

Apparently, not everyone's pleased by the pace of development in Limerick Township. A new entrance marker on its border with Upper Providence sported a hand-made sign Sunday (Jan. 31, 2010) that proclaimed Limerick as the "home of suburban sprawl and overdevelopment."

“We’re both working toward the same goal,” McGroarty observed during the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Jan. 21 meeting at the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA. “I’m impressed that we’re doing the right kinds of things cooperatively.”

“It’s not an agreement that’s fallen by the wayside,” Commissioner James Phillips said of the master plan, but with a first-of-the-year change in politicians in both townships he noted it is taking more time to bring those new to the joint committee up to speed. “The first step is really getting our arms around the problems we’re facing there.”

A huge amount of commercial and residential growth is expected at the interchange in coming years. To accommodate it, the municipalities anticipate costs in the tens of millions of dollars to re-work the highway’s exit ramps, widen existing roads, create a feeder or frontage road system, and install traffic control systems there. Creation of the master plan is seen in part as a way to attract federal funding for those projects.

Phillips characterized the master plan as “one of the biggest initiatives Lower Pottsgrove’s ever going to undertake.”

Limerick in December (2009) gave its approval to development on the interchange’s southeast side of the first phase of what is now called “The Gateway At Sanatoga,” formerly known as “Sanatoga Springs.” A Costco warehouse store, three restaurants, and a bank are expected to be constructed there, possibly beginning this spring.

Related (to Sanatoga interchange development):

• Costco Approved Without Traffic Improvements (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Gateway Endorsed By Limerick Planners (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Project Faces Limerick Zoning Decisions
• Sanatoga Shopping Project On Limerick Zoning Agenda
• More Web Searches Seek ‘Sanatoga Springs’
• Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
• Sanatoga Springs Promotion In Flux
• Townships Agree To Interchange Planning
• Township Interviews For ‘Bigger Picture’
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
• The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
• County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
• Improving The Odds At The Interchange
• More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
• Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
• Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
• A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Jan. 21 meeting):

• Waiting, Waiting, Waiting For Light To Turn
• Sunnybrook Sign Money Awaits Hearing, Paperwork
• Township May Turn Off Some Street Lights
• Township Commissioners’ Meeting Tonight

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LIMERICK PA – A Costco Wholesale Corp. requirement to own the land on which its new warehouse store would be built within the O’Neill Properties Group “Gateway At Sanatoga” project, and its insistence on relocating a petroleum pipeline now buried beneath the land’s surface, are expected to receive attention this week from the Limerick (PA) Township Zoning Hearing Board.

The most recent layout available for The Gateway At Sanatoga. The Costco portion was the subject of an Oct. 28 Limerick zoning hearing.

The project, formerly known as “Sanatoga Springs,” is immediately adjacent to the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township southeastern boundary line, and within the U.S. Route 422 interchange district at Sanatoga PA on which both townships have agreed to coordinate future planning and zoning efforts.

Limerick’s zoning board normally meets only on the fourth Wednesday of every month. But at its last meeting, on Oct. 28 (2009), Chairman Mark John said he expected his board’s decision on the Costco issues, which require zoning approval, possibly could be issued this week in advance of Thursday’s (Nov. 12, 2009) meeting of the Limerick Board of Supervisors.

The supervisors made an unusual move on behalf of Costco during the retailer’s Oct. 28 zoning hearing. They sent township Solicitor Joseph McGrory to both represent them and advocate for a Costco-favorable ruling from the zoners. McGrory’s appearance so surprised John that he made a special note to ensure it was entered into the hearing’s minutes as authorized by the supervisors.

“This is a project the township wants,” McGrory acknowledged. “The Board of Supervisors believes it would be beneficial, and we are here in support of zoning relief” for Costco, the attorney said.

Costco proposes to build a 140,000-square-foot open-to-the-public warehouse store, and an accompanying members-only gas station, on a portion of 65 acres presented as the first phase of the O’Neill development. The complex would sit just west of the Philadelphia Premium Outlets on West Lightcap Road, and would front Evergreen Road at the Sanatoga interchange entrance to 422’s eastbound lanes.

A pipeline owned by petroleum refiner Sunoco Inc. currently crosses a portion of the property.

O’Neill’s initial plans called for Costco to be part of a condominium ownership agreement for The Gateway At Sanatoga. The retailer now wants to own and be responsible for its property, according to Heidi Macomber, Costco regional director of development. The company also doesn’t want to accept a risk of problems with the pipeline, and so is insisting it be relocated. Technical matters to be decided by the zoning board primarily revolve around both issues.

The zoning decision takes on added urgency this week because Limerick supervisors, during their Thursday meeting, apparently want to decide on a request to grant “blanket cross-easements” that would subject Costco to requirements similar to those of other companies still participating in the condominium agreement. Supervisors can’t act, however, McGrory said, until the zoning board issues its rulings.

O’Neill is “basically on the same page” and in agreement with the supervisors’ plans, its attorney, also at the hearing, agreed.

During the hearing, zoning board member questions focused on a proposal by O’Neill engineers to move the 10-inch plastic pipeline from crossing the parking lot in front of Costco to a path that roughly follows the project property line and then reconnects to the original pipe near the interchange’s eastbound entrance. Civil engineer Tim Stout of Langan Engineering and Environmental Services testified the proposed changes would have “no adverse effect on traffic, safety, or the public health or welfare.”

The zoning board met briefly and privately following the Oct. 28 hearing, and then returned to have John announce it would be unable to make a ruling that night. It could, John added, have a decision by Tuesday (Nov. 10, 2009).

Related (to Sanatoga interchange development):

• Costco Approved Without Traffic Improvements (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Gateway Endorsed By Limerick Planners (WhatsThe422.com)
• Sanatoga Project Faces Limerick Zoning Decisions
• Sanatoga Shopping Project On Limerick Zoning Agenda
• More Web Searches Seek ‘Sanatoga Springs’
• Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
• Sanatoga Springs Promotion In Flux
• Townships Agree To Interchange Planning
• Township Interviews For ‘Bigger Picture’
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
• The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
• County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
• Improving The Odds At The Interchange
• More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
• Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
• Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
• A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”

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LIMERICK PA – As Wall Street celebrates the return of the national economy from a two-year-long recession, interest in local retail commercial development appears also to be on the rise, particularly in the O’Neill Properties Group project proposed for Lightcap and Evergreen Roads in Limerick PA and alternately known as “Sanatoga Springs,” “The Premium Gateway at Sanatoga Springs,” or “The Gateway At Sanatoga.”

The most recent layout available for The Gateway At Sanatoga proposed by O'Neill Properties, including Costco (top left), a Hampton Inn (at "K") and Red Robin ("I") as having committed to the project.

Various Internet search keyword and phrase trackers checked Thursday (Sept. 17, 2009) show a significant increase during recent weeks in Web user traffic for terms like “Sanatoga Springs” and “Sanatoga shopping center.”

Possibly just as significant is the availability of new promotional materials for the project from King of Prussia PA-based developer O’Neill, which offer fresh insight into tenants who apparently have made commitments to be part of the complex.

During hearings conducted in January (2009) by Limerick (PA) Township, O’Neill representatives described what was then simply called “Sanatoga Springs” as a three-phase project that ultimately would include a Costco store and accompanying gas station as an anchor, along with smaller retailers and housing units. Six months later, in a visibly declining economy, O’Neill removed from its web pages several early brochures and flyers touting the project.

They’re back, in revised form. Materials that now label the shopping complex’s second stage as “The Gateway At Sanatoga” can be downloaded from the O’Neill’s retail developments webpage. They continue to list Costco as a primary tenant, with an opening slated for Fall 2010. Costco has not yet broken ground for a building.

They also specifically list a Hampton Inn Hotel and a Red Robin Restaurant as tenants. While plans for a hotel, five restaurants, two banks and other retailers have continually been described as parts of the project, the apparent commitment of franchise brand names other than Costco had not been previously promoted.

Recently heightened web searches for information on Sanatoga Springs is accompanied by:

• More municipal planning. Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick townships, which share a common border and a common interest in explosive commercial growth surrounding the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422, have agreed to create a common master plan for the area. Lower Pottsgrove commissioners in July authorized a payment of $10,000 as its share of costs for mapping what will be recognized by both townships as the Interchange District.
• Highway worries. Increased driver angst over traffic delays on Route 422, a continuing public debate over its future as a free highway or a proposed toll road, and the prospect of new public transit alternatives like the addition of commuter trains or more bus routes, still garner headlines. A presentation Tuesday (Sept. 15, 2009) about 422 by transportation experts to a breakfast meeting of the Phoenixville Regional Chamber of Commerce resulted in stories run by several area newspapers.
• Economic optimism. The New York Times reported Thursday that “stock markets stampeded higher … and major Wall Street benchmarks touched their highest levels of the year on optimism that an economic rebound was under way.” MarketWatch was more cautious; “Fund managers remain optimistic that the global economy is emerging from recession,” it reported Wednesday (Sept. 16, 2009), but added “most of them believe below-trend growth and below-trend inflation lie ahead.”

Related (to Sanatoga interchange development):

• Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
• Sanatoga Springs Promotion In Flux
• Townships Agree To Interchange Planning
• Township Interviews For ‘Bigger Picture’
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
• The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
• County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
• Improving The Odds At The Interchange
• More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
• Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
• Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
• A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”

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SANATOGA PA – The more than 400 acres that will be included in the joint Lower Pottsgrove-Limerick (PA) townships’ master plan for the Sanatoga interchange at U.S. Route 422 must be officially mapped in detail, and Lower Pottsgrove’s Board of Commissioners last week agreed to pay $10,000 as its share of the cost to have the work done.

The Sanatoga interchange at U.S. Route 422.

The mapping will be undertaken by Simone Collins, the Berwyn PA-based consultant both townships are relying upon to create a unified plan for what is known as the Interchange District. The firm will make zoning recommendations, suggest publicly and privately funded improvements, set standards for new roads and street scape design, and guide the district’s overall appearance.

Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the expense last Thursday (July 23, 2009) during their second monthly meeting in the township municipal building on Buchert Road. The approval is subject to a review by township Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway of an accompanying contract.

About 150 acres, roughly a third of the area, lie within Lower Pottsgrove boundaries, township Manager Rodney Hawthorne explained. The mapping effort will be the latest, and possibly final, step that must be completed before the two municipalities can start to address legal language that will help them with the district’s regulation.

Hawthorne reported representatives of both townships met most recently on June 5, 11 and 23 for district-related discussions and “made significant progress.”

Back in May, both townships agreed to cooperate in the district’s planning and development. Re-working the highway’s exit ramps, widening existing roads, creating a feeder or frontage road system, and installing traffic control systems there – all to accommodate future growth – is expected to cost tens of millions of dollars. Neither municipality can afford it alone, they concede.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of July 23):

• Board Approves Interchange Mapping Costs
• Commissioners OK Zoning Board Appointments
• No Need To Ask Them Twice
• Township Says No To Sunnybrook Grant, Citing Risks
• Commissioners Cancel Next Meeting

Related (to Sanatoga interchange development):

• Townships Agree To Interchange Planning
• Township Interviews For ‘Bigger Picture’
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
• The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
• County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
• Improving The Odds At The Interchange
• More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
• Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
• Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
• A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”

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Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

LIMERICK PA – If the recent disappearance of what once was an abundance of promotional hype is any indication, the highly discussed Sanatoga Springs retail shopping center – proposed to be built on the south side of the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422 – seems to have taken a lower profile.

That doesn’t mean the project itself is gone; it’s not. Although its promotional activity may be changing, components that comprise Sanatoga Springs are still very much in evidence and available.

Eleven property listings at the Route 422 and Evergreen Road, Limerick (PA) Township, site – ranging in size from 5,000- to 200,000-square-feet – continue to be found on Co-Star, a national commercial property database used by the project’s developer, O’Neill Properties Group of King of Prussia, and others for marketing purposes. A brochure is available there too. The offerings are being represented by O’Neill’s Matt Fell, according to Co-Star.

A Google aerial photo map, circa 2008, of the intersection of Evergreen and West Lightcap roads in Limerick Township.

But O’Neill has conspicuously removed mention of Sanatoga Springs from the main commercial properties page on its website, where it once held a prominent position. In recent weeks it’s also taken down or moved a separate website formerly devoted solely to Sanatoga Springs, which billed the project as a “premium gateway” to shopping, residential and entertainment activities at the interchange.

Page not found, the website reports.

Gone, too, is an accompanying full-color brochure with a cover that pictured a young woman holding several shopping bags and hugging a man while looking happily into the camera lens. An adjacent headline on the formerly downloadable document called Sanatoga Springs “the prime location at the Philadelphia Outlets.”

And a real estate brokerage that specializes in filling shopping centers with retail clients, and which had been assigned to bring tenants to Sanatoga Springs, no longer includes the project in its active portfolio.

O’Neill representatives appeared before Limerick supervisors in mid-April, online news resource WhatsThe422.com reported, to seek their approval of a Keystone Opportunity Zone designation for the site. The designation might offer state benefits that make the project more attractive to investors and others. Supervisors deferred, suggesting instead that the developer first talk with the Spring-Ford School District.

No matter what future projects may occupy the vacant land surrounding the interchange, Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick townships have pledged to be mutually ready for them. Both passed resolutions last month announcing their agreement to cooperate on planning and other issues that affect the interchange.

Related (to Sanatoga interchange development):

• Townships Agree To Interchange Planning
• Township Interviews For ‘Bigger Picture’
• Missing Walks Latest Bridge Complaint
• Trying, Trying Again At The Interchange
• Just One Speaker At Sanatoga Springs Hearing
• The Overlooked Users Of Sanatoga Springs
• County Suggests Cooperation On Sanatoga Springs
• Improving The Odds At The Interchange
• More About … Sanatoga Springs (No. 1 In A Series)
• Trial Balloon: An Inter-Municipal Agreement
• Lobbyists Court Lower Pottsgrove
• A New Arrival In “Sanatoga Springs”

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