Real Estate, Economic Development
Seven years in the making, the $45 million Eastside Flats mixed-use development in Malvern, Pa., is nearing completion.
The project covers what is essentially three city blocks of this Chester County community and is within walking distance of the redeveloped Malvern train station.
“We’re basically rebuilding the entire east end of the borough,” said David Della Porta, who heads up Cornerstone Communities of Villanova, Pa. Cornerstone and E. Kahn Development of Downingtown, Pa., are collaborating to build Eastside Flats. Bozzuto Group of Greenbelt, Md., is construction manager and will manage the property once it’s finished.
The developers assembled several properties along King Street, the main thoroughfare in Malvern, during the recession. They wanted to create a new anchor for the borough.
The developers didn’t envision a typical suburban apartment complex, Della Porta said. Eastside’s location is an already vibrant, walkable community with easy access to regional rail that gives it an urban feel. The architectural design, done by Heffner Architects of Alexandria, Va., also attempts to blend into the existing character of the community by incorporating different façades and roof lines.
“We were trying to make it feel like it had been here and not a big box that was added to this beautiful borough,” Della Porta said.
Ground was broken in March 2012 on two separate buildings that will have a total of 190 apartments and 27,000 square feet of retail space. So far, Kimberton Whole Foods and a furniture store have signed on as retail tenants. The developers are hoping to line up a restaurant.
Pre-leasing the apartments started two weeks ago and activity has been steady. Twenty-two leases have so far been signed; about half were by wealthy suburban empty-nesters, which is something Della Porta wasn’t expecting.
“The business is changing,” he said. “Everyone is now looking to rent.”
The project has also attracted professionals working in Great Valley and Paoli Hospital as well as at least one renter relocating from Conshohocken, Pa.
Monthly rents at Eastside run from about $1,400 to $2,500, or roughly $2 a square foot. The first building will be ready for renters in August while the second is scheduled to be completed in November.
Cornerstone is involved in two other suburban multifamily projects. In Newtown Square, Pa., it is constructing a 250-unit complex with Bozzuto, and in West Chester, Pa., the company is building a 205-unit development called Chestnut Square at Gay and Matlack streets. It is doing that project with E. Kahn Development and Jack Lowe & Associates.
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