Collegeville Inn sold for redevelopment; two plans considered

LOWER PROVIDENCE >> The Collegeville Inn, a former smorgasbord restaurant and cafeteria training facility that closed several years ago, is under contract to be purchased by the Buccini/Pollin Group of Wilmington, Del.

The owner of the property, M&T Bank, agreed to the purchase some time ago, said Township Manager Richard Gestrich.

Representatives of the bank met with township staff and Solicitor John Rice in April 2014 to present two development proposals for housing and retail space along Germantown Pike.

“There were two options. One option was a 9,000-square-foot retail center near Germantown Pike, three-story walk-up apartments with 162 units in eight buildings and 46 town homes in separate buildings,” Gestrich said. “The second option was a 6,000-square-foot retail center and 115 two-story townhomes.”

Gestrich said the apartment proposal would likely need zoning relief to be developed, but the townhouse concept could be a by-right use.

“The board of supervisors is very supportive of developing that tract,” Gestrich said. “There are zoning ordinances that would not allow the apartments.”

Gestrich said the closed building had been under a purchase contract “for some time,” but the purchase price had not been disclosed.

Larry Bergen, a senior vice president at Colliers International of Philadelphia, did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Officials at Buccini/Pollin Group could not be reached for comment.

The Collegeville Inn, with more than 100 years of history on one side of the Perkiomen Creek Bridge, was purchased in 1994 by Nutrition Services Management Co. (NSM) of Kimberton and reopened in 1997 as the Marketplace Restaurant in 1997. The 450-seat restaurant, banquet and conference hall was used by NSM as a training facility for chefs and kitchen workers in their banquet hall system.

In 2008, the township staff received a proposal for a retirement community with 100 to 150 age-restricted units that would preserve the Collegeville Inn building. That proposal never moved beyond the discussion stage.

M&T Bank holds the mortgage on the property.

Source: Times Herald