New Details Revealed About Nearly 1 Million-Square-Foot Nuuly Facility

Nuuly, a subscription clothing rental brand owned by Urban Outfitters, revealed details Tuesday about its planned 1-million-square-foot facility in Falls Township.

The Falls Township Planning Commission voted 4-1 Tuesday night at a roughly four hour-long meeting to recommend that the Board of Supervisors rezone a 165-acre former quarry site at 700 East Penn Valley Road to a materials processing and manufacturing district for the logistics, repair, and laundering facility.

The planning commission is an advisory body that provides its recommendation to the supervisors.

The recommendation has deed restriction attached that states the land development must move forward as planned, or the zoning recommendation becomes void. The deed restriction would limit future uses on the property, which attorney Chelsey Jackman, who is representing Nuuly, said offers stronger long-term protections than standard zoning because it cannot be changed unilaterally by future owners without township consent.

Officials said the deed restriction effectively blocks the site from being turned into a data center, which was a concern of some residents.

Some residents yelled at the planners after the voting, with one audience member yelling, “People over profits!”

The plans still need to be reviewed and voted on by the Falls Township Board of Supervisors.

The plans call for a 994,257-square-foot main warehouse and cleaning facility, a 2,400-square-foot maintenance shed, a 2,547-square-foot pump house with a water tank, and three 252-square-foot designated employee smoking shacks.

The need for the large facility is driven by a need to expand the company’s clothing rental and laundering operations using the local workforce, Urban Outfitters Chief Development Officer Dave Ziel said.

Nuuly, which announced it was proposing its latest facility in Falls Township in spring, operates its East Coast division out of a smaller facility on Green Lane in Bristol Township.

“We have 1,000 families that work for us in Bristol,” said Ziel. “The people were critical in the decision … keeping those 1,000 employees and then adding 1,000 immediately thereafter in a facility that is twice the size of the current facility in Bristol was critical.”

According to Ziel, workforce projections call for reaching 2,000 employees within two years of opening, with maximum capacity capped at 2,800 positions within five years.

The proposed facility will employ warehouse workers, seamstresses, maintenance technicians, and chemical engineers, with starting entry-level wages at $17 per hour, Ziel said.

The facility will operate on a two-shift schedule rather than a 24-hour schedule.

The Bucks County locations are sister sites to a Nuuly facility in Missouri.

Plans presented by engineers detail a large footprint on the former quarry lot, which has been backfilled in recent years.

Project engineer Heath Dumack, of Dumack Engineering, said the site plans include rain gardens, stormwater upgrades, and new tree plantings.

Nuuly promotes itself as an eco-friendly rental alternative centered on “playfulness, identity expression, and body positivity,” Jackman stated.

Company officials noted the laundering process uses energy- and water-efficient industrial equipment with detergent formulas that are gentler on the environment than standard domestic laundry pods.

Jackman said typical dry cleaning solvents PERC and TCE will not be used.

“The pod in your washing machine right now is not as gentle on the environment as what they use to clean the clothes that come back to the facility,” Jackman said.

The facility is projected to consume approximately 151,000 gallons of water per day, with all laundering wastewater routed directly into the municipal sanitary sewer system and not stormwater drains.

To address concerns over congestion, traffic engineer Mark Roth of Bowman Consulting presented findings indicating that the developer and not PennDOT will fund and construct required road improvements before opening. Proposed upgrades include widening East Penn Valley Road, upgrading traffic signals, and improving interchange ramps at Route 13.

The site plan features 1,501 parking spots for the largest shift and staggered shift schedules will prevent all 2,000 workers from arriving at one time, Roth said.

Energy demands are projected at 3 to 4 megawatts, but design is still in development, Ziel said.

The company is investigating a partnership with PECO and Bloom Energy to construct up to 4 megawatts of natural gas fuel cells on-site, which could offset consumption by supplying power back to the grid, Ziel told the planners.

When township resident Toni Battiste asked why solar panels were not being planned for the expansive roof, Ziel responded that solar energy does not produce as much power as commonly assumed for a commercial building.

The project, which was announced earlier this year by Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro, still requires land development review and approval from the Falls Township Board of Supervisors.

Concerns over neighborhood proximity, traffic, and environmental footprint were voiced by residents Tuesday and at Monday’s supervisors meeting.

Ziel acknowledged the public’s feedback and said he will prepare answers to the community’s questions prior to the project’s next public presentation.

If approvals are granted, Urban Outfitters plans to finalize the land acquisition in February 2027 and is targeting an opening no earlier than October 2028.