Developer Unveils Revised Plans For Former Intelligencer Property

DOYESLTOWN, PA — Developers presented revised plans for apartments and retail space at the site of the former Intelligencer building to the Doylestown Borough Planning Commission on Tuesday.

The redevelopment project by Villanova-based Cornerstore Tracy, LLC, includes plans for a mixed-use, four-story building at the corner of North Broad Street and Atkinson Drive, with 10,000 square feet of retail or office space on the first floor and apartments on the top three floors. A second building situated farther back would be five stories tall, with parking on the first floor and apartments on the upper levels.

A total of 233 "market rate" apartments are proposed for the site, and a public park would be included as part of the project. A traffic light would be installed at the intersection of Broad Street and Atkinson Drive to alleviate traffic concerns.

"We want it to serve as part of the gateway on Broad Street," Donald Tracy, of Cornerstone Tracy, told borough planners Tuesday.

The property has historic significance as the former offices of The Intelligencer newspaper, which operated there for 80 years. In June 2017, Calkins Media announced plans to sell The Intelligencer and The Bucks County Courier Times to Gatehouse Media. The new owners chose to leave the space in May 2018 and relocated to the Oxford Valley Mall in Middletown, and the building was demolished in early 2019.

Developers said they plan to return to the planning commission in January for approval.

The revised site plans come as local planners weigh the impacts of another project recently proposed across the street at 280 N. Broad St., where Arcadia Land Company has proposed building apartments and retail space at the site of the Tilly Fire Equipment Company. Unlike the proposed redevelopment of the former Intelligencer property, that project falls under the purview of both Doylestown Borough and Doylestown Township and will need to be approved by planners from both municipalities.

RELATED: Apartments, Commercial Space Proposed In Doylestown

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