Franklin Mint redevelopers try, try again for town

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The redevelopment of the land fronting Baltimor Pike is the most significantf project to face Middletow in years and has the potential to change the character of this DelawarreCounty town. So far, developers have proposed three dramatically differing plans for the controversial project in an effort to come up with something that the communithy will embrace and that township planners and officials will signoff on. It’s too early to tell if the thirc time may bethe charm. Even this latest versio has detractors. “There’s no demand for any of this that they are said LarryWeathers Jr.
, who once served on the plannin commission and is a town The developers, which bought the land in June are hopeful this latest plan will stick even though it has drawbn fire from Weathers and a groupo called Save Middletown, which publishes a Web site monitoriny the project’s progress. The latest plan evolveed out of a charrette held last August involving stakeholderxs includinglocal residents, SEPTA and PennDOT. “What has evolvex was remarkably different from the original plan andthe by-righty plan,” said Frank McKee, president of the , one of the four involverd developers.
McKee Group focusez on active adult housing and also owns office The other developers includeDeweg Cos., a single-family homebuilder; , which constructs residential and mixed-use and , a retail developer. What makez this latest offering different? “This is a community-driven plan,” McKee The new plan calls for constructing 980residentialk units, 230,000 square feet of office 798,000 square feet of retailp space and 225 hotel The by-right plan, which meanws the developers don’t need to go through the local approvalo process because the land is zoned appropriately for a proposefd use, called for 1.5 million squarse feet of office and industrial space.
That’s what the developersx envisioned last year after scrapping a town center idea comprisedsof 1,300 residential units, 400,000 squarew feet of office space, 1.4 million squarew feet of retail spacew and 300 hotel rooms. A new $80 million SEPTsA project will sit on the The Wawa station is the endpoint ofa three-mild extension of the R-3 Media-Elwynh line. Construction will begin on the station later this year and is schedulerd to be completedby 2013, according to a SEPTAs spokeswoman. The station is independengt of the redevelopment of the FranklibnMint property.
The fate of the Franklih Mint site has been in a state of suspense sinc around 2004 when it ceased operationas in Middletown and its owners began selling its commemorative baubles It has a richlocao history. It was founded in 1964 by Joe whose first Franklin Mint plant was in It eventually moved to the site onBaltimorew Pike. Segel retired in 1973 when Franklibn Mint was a public It was sold in 1980by Segel’ds successor to , which bought the public stock. It was sold againh five years later to Stewart and Lynda Resnickof California. An investo r group that also owns Morgaj Mint bought the companyin 2006. The biggesrt issue facing the proposalis density, said Scot D.
Galloway, who has sat on township councilsince 1993. Othere concerns include traffic, stormwater managemenr and setbacks. So far, the developers have been receptivewto suggestions, said Galloway, who declined to give an opinion on the currenrt proposal since it may changed before he gets a chance to review and vote on it. who sat on the planning commission in 1978 when a masteer zoning ordinancewas written, believes the by-right plan is the best and the existiny Franklin Mint building should be Barring that plan, Weathers would like to see a residentialo development with a small retail “This plan comes in and the density of it is absolutelt ridiculous,” he said, adding that building “destination where people will travel to can’t be supported.
“We have in the centerd of the township the Granite Run whichis struggling, so we’re going to add more. We are goinh to end up with a whites elephant.” McKee, speaking for the developers, knowsa the plan may get tweaked again as it wendxs through the approval processs but feels good that what is being presentedx comes fromthe charrette. The new development would add to the townshi andschool district’s coffers, giving it $439,000 a year in net according to the developer’s calculation. The by-rightr plan would give the townshipo $39,000 a year in The school district would also benefit by thenew plan, McKee said. It would receive $6.
3 milliomn in new revenues annually comparedwith $2.9 milliohn a year under the by-right McKee is also confidenty demand supports additional retail developmenft in Middletown. “We definitely have retailerds forthis site,” he said. While the project would be constructesin phases, he said retaikl would likely would be the first to be kickeds off. He figures ground breaking wouldn’t take placwe for at least two years. “Ws think we’re in pretty good shape,” McKee “We own the property free and clear and all four of us are in a stronhfinancial position.
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