With Developer Now In Possession Of Closed Schools, Plans For 55-Plus Developments Moves Forward

Developer John McGrath is moving forward with plans to turn the sites of three closed elementary schools in Bristol Township’s Levittown section into 55-plus housing.

The Bristol Township Planning Commission, an advisory body, provided feedback to the developer and heard his proposal.

The plans still need to go through further land development and be approved by Bristol Township Council before shovels can go into the ground. However, township officials have previously expressed excitement at the prospect of the developments.

McGrath agreed to “promptly demolish” the vacant and deteriorating schools as the land development process moves forward. No dates were set for demolition.

The Bristol Township School District and McGrath, through company JRGF LLC, closed on the sale of the 17.5-acre John Fitch Elementary School on Greenbrook Drive, 10-acre Abraham Lincoln Elementary School on Plumtree Drive, and 17-acre George Washington Elementary School on Crabtree Drive in Levittown late last month. The sale of the schools was for $1.2 million.

Once developed into age-restricted communities with townhomes, flats, and apartments, the district expects them to bring in $1.8 million in new tax revenue each year.

McGrath and his team came before the Bristol Township Planning Commission to request a zoning amendment for age-qualified housing for the three of the sites, conditional use for the Fitch and Lincoln sites, and preliminary and final development approval for the Fitch sites.

McGrath and his attorney said the district put a deed restriction in place requiring age-restricted housing, as has long been proposed, for the sites inside Levitt-constructed residential sections.

According to plans laid out Wednesday, the Fitch site would have 180 units, which would be 60 townhomes, 48 stacked townhomes called flats, and 72 apartments – 48 two-bedroom units and 24 one-bedroom units.

The Lincoln site would have 89 units of 41 flats and 24 apartments, plans showed.

Both developments would include a club house and pool.

Parking for each community would be self contained.

With the plans for the Washington property not displayed on Wednesday, it is likely that development will come later. However, a previous set of plans showed the Washington proposal being similar to those outlined for the Fitch and Lincoln sites.

McGrath said sales for units would range from $300,000 to $400,000 and rents would be from $1,700 to $2,300.

The grounds and amenities at the communities would be maintained by homeowner associations at each development.

The communities would be surrounded by buffer zones with trees planted around them to better blend into the established neighborhoods.

Chris Levins, the president of CLC Contractors, is working with McGrath on the project. Former District Judge Robert Wagner, whose wife sits on council and is the non-elected secretary for the school board, is also involved in the project.

McGrath Homes has been involved in numerous age-restricted developments in Bucks and Montgomery counties, including St. Joseph Court in Falls Township and two developments in Middletown Township.

McGrath has led several meetings with residents surrounding the closed schools on his plans. He has said he is committed to working with the township.

Last year, the developer said he had a traffic study done and determined that a 55-plus community would have less traffic burden than a school or single-family housing development.

The Bristol Township School Board and a county court approved McGrath’s plan to purchase the school sites in 2019. The purchase date was delayed until this summer.

The empty schools buildings have become a headache for residents who have complained about overgrown grass and weeds, damaged structures, vermin, trespassers, trash, and arsons at the properties. The district has provided some security and maintenance to the closed facilities, but their efforts have appeared to be largely futile.

Two other former school sites have been sold to other developers.

At the former Maple Shade school site, a V-shaped 5.7-acre lot along Newport Road in Croydon, Maple Shade Development LLC, which is connected to Falls Township-based Premium Excavating and Demolition, is seeking to turn the land into 24 single-family homes.

Developer DR Horton plans to use the 20.9-acre site of Lafayette Elementary School site off Fayette Drive to built twin homes, a total of 88 units. The development would be 55-plus.

The sixth school, the former former Clara Barton building, was not put up for sale and is now used as the district administration, transportation, and maintenance hub.

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