NEWTOWN TOWNSHIP – Sycamore Street is busier than usual this
summer, but it has nothing to do with traffic.
Within blocks of each other, three major construction
projects are moving forward, each promising to enhance the streetscape, bring
additional foot traffic, add jobs to the local economy and transform the look
and feel of the street .
Work crews were at the sites last week moving earth,
clearing trees and pouring foundations as curious motorists and pedestrians
checked out the progress.
In a word, said Sycamore Street businessman Shawn Ward,
downtown Newtown Township is “bustling.”
Ward, the president of the Sycamore Street Community
Association, co-owner of the Green Parrot and former member of the Sycamore
Street Committee, said it’s exciting to watch as the township’s vision for the
street – a mixed use, walkable town center of businesses, restaurants, shops
and residential dwellings – continues to unfold.
“Within the next six months the look of Sycamore Street is
going to be much different,” said Ward.
By far, the largest of the three projects is the Promenade
which will rise three stories above the street at the site of the former ACME
store at Sycamore and Jefferson.
For about a week, workers have been clearing the site in
preparation for the construction of two new structures that will house 26
luxury apartments on the upper floors and four to six high-end retail spaces at
street level.
The Promenade will be anchored by Anthropologie, a 175-store
national chain based in Wayne specializing in women’s clothing, accessories and
home décor.
What’s exciting about the Promenade, said Ward, is that it
will bring more residents to the street, dining and patronizing the existing
businesses, in addition to the new businesses that will be in the Promenade.
“The restaurants, the shops, the salons are going to benefit
from the additional residents who will be living on the street,” said Ward.
Not far away, at the busy corner of Sycamore and Richboro
Road, construction crews are laying the foundations for Beneficial Bank. The
financial institution will move from Summit Square in neighboring Middletown to
Newtown Township when its new home is complete.
The bank is being built on the site of the former
Stockburger Chrysler showroom, which was torn down earlier this summer.
The township and the Sycamore Street Association had opposed
the bank plans, hoping instead for the site to be developed as a smaller
version of Goodnoe Corner – two story buildings with retail on the first floor
and some apartments above.
“While Beneficial wasn’t our first choice for development at
that site, the fact that the site is being developed is welcome news,” said
Ward. “It’s undoubtedly going to look really nice when it’s done. It will
definitely enhance that corner of Sycamore Street and Richboro Road.
“We also welcome Beneficial to Sycamore Street. I’m sure they’ll
be a good neighbor,” said Ward.
Around the corner, next to Meglio at Swamp and Eagle roads,
another bank project is moving forward just a few hundred yards off of Sycamore
Street and across from Rita’s Water Ice.
In the past few weeks, demolition crews took down several
buildings at the site to make way for Univest Bank, which will make the leap
from the Newtown Commons to the Sycamore corridor when the building is
complete.
And speaking of Meglio, plans are moving forward for the
pizzeria to make its own move from Swamp Road to Sycamore Street in the near
future, adding another restaurant to the streetscape. The pizzeria owners are
hoping to build a new restaurant on the east side of the street between
Washington Avenue and Burns Auto Repair.
“We are finally seeing the fruits of our labors come to
bloom,” said Ward. “It seems like we’re in the home stretch. They [the
developers] are stepping to the plate and they’re ready to swing. Hopefully it
will be a home run.”
Source: Bucks
Local News
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