In late October, MoreThanTheCurve.com reported on a zoning application submitted by entities associated with Morgan Properties seeking zoning relief to construct an office building on Conshohocken’s riverfront. At the time, only the notice was available, and thus, there were limited details. The hearing was scheduled for November 18th but has now been rescheduled for December 16th.

Morgan Properties has invested heavily in Conshohocken in recent years. In 2018, it purchased the Millennium I, II, and III office buildings and, in 2024, moved its headquarters to the campus from its original home in King of Prussia. In 2022, it purchased the undeveloped property known as Millennium IV, which sits between Millennium II and III and the Schuylkill River.

Morgan Properties’ plans were released in more detail before the original hearing date as part of the zoning hearing agenda. The plan is for two office buildings, not one.

The first building would be constructed in what is now a parking lot for the Millennium I office building. It would be six stories and 216,400 square feet in total. Adjacent to the building would be a four-story parking garage with 960 spaces (253,336 square feet). This space this building would occupy is shown on the top image as “Building 1.”

The second building would occupy undeveloped Millennium IV property. It is proposed as a three-story, 87,840-square-foot office building. An adjacent parking podium would house 236 vehicles (158,916 square feet). This space is shown on the top image as “Building 2.”

The requested zoning relief includes the following:

• Section §27-1503.3.C – to permit a building height greater than 85 feet for a building that is located further than 2,000 feet from a SEPTA rail station;
• Section §27-1504.F.(2) – to permit a maximum impervious coverage of 79%, whereas not more than 70% of the area of any lot in the SP-2 zoning district is permitted;
• Section §27-1505.B.(3) – to permit a building separation on the same lot of 17.9 feet, whereas a minimum 30 feet building separation is required;
• Section §27-1509.2.C – to permit a visible parking structure fronting parallel to the Schuylkill River in connection to a maximum building profile of 350 feet; and,
• Section §27-1714.1.A, B, D, F, G, H, and K – to permit the construction of the proposed office buildings with podium parking decks and associated site clearing, filling, placement, and related improvements within the FP- Floodplain conservation overlay district, whereas such activities, uses, and permanent structures are prohibited.

A previous owner of the Millennium IV property, Brian O’Neil’s O’Neil Properties, successfully secured similar zoning relief for an office building on the undeveloped property that was never constructed (view), and the approvals expired. At the time, O’Neil was pitching the site to AmerisourceBergen for its new headquarters, which was eventually built at the corner of Fayette Street and West 1st Avenue in downtown Conshohocken. AmerisourceBergen has since changed its name to Cencora.

In addition to the listed variances, the applicant must seek conditional use approvals from the borough council regarding building lengths and profiles.

You can view the zoning application here (starting at page 72).