$35 million expansion coming to Village at Newtown shopping center

Prospects for shoppers and foodies around Newtown Township will soon expand along with a prominent shopping hub in the community.

Supervisors approved Brixmor Property Group's master plan for the Village at Newtown shopping center, which sits on 33.81 acres along Eagle and Durham roads, 4-1 Wednesday evening.

Brixmor intends to invest more than $35 million into developing six new structures, including a bank and a cafe, and demolishing two others, which now contain a Bank of America, Bright Now! Dental, auto insurance provider McCorriston Agency and a vacant space.

Factoring in the demolished buildings, Brixmor's plan would grow the shopping center by 50,814 square feet — from 176,224 square feet to 227,038 square feet for a 29 percent increase.

Also included in Brixmor's plan are revamps to nearby sidewalks and intersections, new outdoor seating areas and 72 new parking spaces added to the existing 1,005 spaces.

Brixmor has a tentative site plan detailing the types of retail and restaurants it is pursuing as tenants for the new buildings, said Stanton Brown, senior vice president of MSC Retail, which is marketing the shopping center. 

• One building, to the north of McCaffrey's Supermarket, would house three apparel stores (two specifically for women), two restaurants (one full-service and one quick-service), and a cosmetics store.
• Another building, in the center's northwest corner, would feature two quick-service restaurants and a kitchen store.
• A third building, to the right of that corner building, would be home to two restaurants (one full-service and one quick-service), and an apparel store.
• A fourth building, to the east near Wells Fargo, would contain an athletic apparel store and a quick-service restaurant.

Brixmor leaders have remained coy on what specific stores they are pursuing. Ryan Guheen, Brixmor's senior vice president, said the developer is in discussion with several tenants who want to see progress with the project before they sign leases.

"They really need to see us move forward in order to make a solid commitment," he said.

Guheen said Brixmor would renovate the center's historic Durham Turnpike Toll House, which from 1870 to 1920 was headquarters for the Newtown toll gate, and potentially lease it to "a community fixture in Bucks County" known for selling ice cream and waffles. The developer will retain the toll house's "preserved look," said township manager Kurt Ferguson, while also renovating the interior, which is "literally collapsing inside itself," according to attorney Ed Murphy, who is representing Brixmor.

"(The interior) needs a ton of structural work," Murphy said. "If it doesn't happen pretty soon, there's going to be a lot more risk involved to that building. The sooner we can get moving, the better."

Brixmor has announced it will lease an existing building, at the center's eastern end near Pier 1 Imports, to Harvest Seasonal Grill and Wine Bar, an upscale restaurant for which supervisors unanimously approved a liquor license in June 2016.

Right now, Harvest Seasonal Grill is building the restaurant's interior while Brixmor is renovating outside building facades at the center's east end, separate from its $35 million project, Brown said. The restaurant likely will open in late fall, he said, and Brixmor will begin work on building facades at the center's west end in the new year. The developer is aiming to start work on its newly-approved project in the first half of 2018, Guheen said.

Prior to supervisors' commitment Wednesday evening, Brixmor and township officials had discussed plans for the shopping center for years, Murphy said. Supervisors and members of the township's planning and zoning boards stressed to Brixmor that residents should have sufficient parking at the center, according to meeting minutes, and traffic volume and routes through the center should be planned around residents' safety.

To that end, Supervisor Ryan Gallagher asked Guheen on Wednesday evening whether he would consider not leasing to any more restaurants on the center's eastern side. Guheen said he disagreed with a blanket restriction, saying restaurants are a "critical" part of Brixmor's leasing strategy and that the peak traffic hours would vary from restaurant to restaurant.

Guheen said the developer would be happy to discuss different restaurants with supervisors on a case-by-case basis in the future.

As part of their approval for the plan, supervisors also voted to close an access point to the shopping center on Ice Cream Alley, which they said will reduce cut-through traffic near the future Harvest Seasonal Grill site.

Board Chairman Kyle Davis, the lone vote against Brixmor's plan, said the developer's plan "looks great," but he believes it's "putting too much in the shopping center."

Gallagher said he supports the plan because of the economic opportunity he expects it will bring to the township.

"As someone who has long tried to champion economic development in Newtown, it doesn't get much bigger than $35 million coming into our community," he said. "This is going to be a great project."

Source: Bucks County Courier Times