600-Plus Apartments At Oxford Valley Mall Greenlit By Supervisors

More than 600 upscale apartments will be coming to the Oxford Valley Mall.

On Monday evening, the Middletown Township Board of Supervisors unanimously approved preliminary and final land development for the project that is seen as a cornerstone for potential redevelopment of one of the area’s largest shopping destination.

The plan approved by the supervisors green lights 614 modern apartments spread across two three- to four-story buildings that would each feature a parking garage for residents and a number of amenities, including green spaces, pools, and fitness centers.

The new apartment complex will be constructed in the old Boscov’s parking lot. Part of the long-closed store will be demolished to add open space and clear room for possible future retail development abutting the complex.

The developer, Main Line-based Cornerstone Tracy, plans to construct the complex in two phases. The first would include 391 apartments with a parking garage, and the second phase will add 223 apartments with a second parking garage.

Dave Della Porta, a co-owner of developer Cornerstone Tracy, said the development will add about a mile of sidewalks to interconnect the development to the mall and surrounding area. He also touted the development will add 8 acres of green space, including a large central green area for residents and the public.

Della Porta said the plan would create “a first-rate, new, modern apartment community.”

The township’s traffic engineer, Philip Wursta of Traffic Planning and Design, commended the developer for adding pedestrian access to the site and said the developer amended the areas of concern that were pointed out by the township.

The developer and mall, which is owned by Simon Property Group, have agreed to add shuttle service to and from the nearby Woodbourne Train Station for residents and mall shoppers, Wursta said, adding the developer will work with TMA Bucks to formulate the plan.

The traffic engineer said the developer will improve the access to the mall and apartments by adding modern, interconnected traffic signals along Fourth Street, which intersects with Woodbourne Road.

As the mall looks to a larger overall redevelopment, additional entry and exit and intersection improvements at other parts of the property are being examined, Wursta said.

Previously, officials have said the 600-plus apartments would not create a major traffic burden on the mall property because it was originally designed to handle massive amounts of vehicles from shoppers.

Tom Kearns, a resident and former township supervisor, spoke during public comment and suggested the supervisors break up preliminary and final land development over two meetings to give people more time to comment. He also raised concern over whether there would be intersection improvements.

The apartments are the first part of a plan by mall-owner Simon Property Group to redevelop the 1,336,000-square-foot shopping complex. The company, as LevittownNow.com exclusively reported last summer, is looking to upgrade the 190-acre property to accommodate changes to business and shopping habits.

Sources with knowledge of the mall plans have said that as late as spring, Simon Property Group representatives have held meetings with potential partners interested in additional redevelopment at the mall. One area discussed was the outdoor mall courtyard by J.C. Penney and the fountain.

The mall was constructed in 1973 on farmland and a sod airfield. It thrived early on and saw a large renovation in the late 1990s. The building has just under 150 stores and sits next to the 115,000-square-foot, eight-story One Oxford Valley office building. The nearby Lincoln Plaza shopping area on East Lincoln Highway is also part of the mall complex.

During public discussion on the apartment proposal last year, Scott Richardson, vice president of development at Simon Property Group, said the apartments will create an “exciting opportunity” to reuse an empty portion of the property while pushing forward potential future additional mixed-use development at the mall.

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