Developer making bold real estate play along Route 202 in King of Prussia

For the last several years, a Florida real estate developer has quietly made a big real estate play in King of Prussia.

In the shadow of Simon Property Group’s mammoth King of Prussia Mall, Hector Viñas has assembled a portfolio of 10 properties, most of which front Route 202. His plans entail demolishing what are mostly old, run down structure and constructing new buildings that will house retail space. The play is to lure tenants who don’t necessarily want to be in the mall but outside of it so to capture some of the traffic it generates as a shopping destination.

If you want to get a glimpse of what Viñas has in mind, you don’t have to look far.

A couple of years ago Viñas bought a closed Exxon gas station at the corner of Route 202 and Allendale Road for $1.9 million. He then knocked it down, spent money to clean it up and constructed a structure that comes to the edge of Route 202 that has sidewalks. He leased the space on a long-term basis to Chipotle and AT&T. In April, Viñas sold the property for $8.5 million, according to Upper Merion records.

This time around, Viñas, whose firm is based in Hollywood, Fla., is looking to execute a similar plan but on a grander scale.

He has under agreement: 107 Forge Road; 727-729 and 731 W. DeKalb Pike; 113 Crockett Road; 705-707-709 and 715 W. DeKalb Pike; and 611 W. DeKalb Pike. The sales of the properties are pending and will close if and when they successfully go through the township zoning approval process. The sale prices were redacted out of documents filed with the township because the transactions haven't closed.

Here’s the break down of what the developer wants to do:

·         At what is now a vacant McDonald’s at 611 DeKalb, preliminary plans call for the construction of a two-story, 5,000-square-foot building and a single-story, 2,500-square-foot building;

·         At 705-715 DeKalb, plans entail constructing a 6,035-square-square foot structure; and

·         At 727-731 W. DeKalb, Vinas is seeking to construct two structures ­— one that is 1,850 square feet and the other 2,500 square feet.

The developer is trying to create something that veers from King of Prussia’s concrete past and present that relies heavily upon the automobile. It’s a vision the township and King of Prussia Business Improvement District have been trying to promote in recent years. The idea, a daring one, is to try to make Route 202 more pedestrian friendly and have new construction be on a the scale of a traditional Main Street rather than a mega mall.

To that end, Viñas is trying to deliver.

“All of the projects will be designed consistent with the township’s desire to create interesting, pedestrian-friendly streetscapes along Route 202 where the building facades rather than massive parking areas are visible and predominant from the road with sidewalks for easy pedestrian walking and access,” Viñas wrote in his application with the township.

In general, township supports the developer's plans, said Rob Loeper, who heads up the planning department at Upper Merion. The township zoning hearing board is scheduled to review the project at an Aug. 6 meeting.

Source: Philadelphia Business Journal