The Philadelphia Business Journal reported on June 26th that Morgan Properties has purchased for $8.5 million the undeveloped parcel along the riverfront at 235 Washington Street in Conshohocken. This property has been known as Millennium IV and is the grass area near the helipad. It was sold by TPT Millennium, LLC, which is part of a New York company Terra Capital Partners, LLC.

Morgan Properties now owns more than half of the Millennium redevelopment area that was started by O’Neill Properties in 2002. This includes the existing office buildings known as Millennium I, II, and III, and now the undeveloped parcel.

While Morgan Properties is a developer of apartments, it does not own the two residential apartment communities that were part of the Millennium redevelopment, Lumina (formerly Londonbury) and Riverwalk. Morgan Properties does own the Sherry Lake Apartments along Butler Pike in the Conshohocken section of Whitemarsh Township.

If you have followed development along the river, you may remember that this undeveloped parcel was most recently pitched by O’Neill to AmerisourceBergen for its corporate headquarters. AmerisourceBergen eventually selected the SORA West site along Fayette Street. O’Neill then sold the property to Terra.

As MoreThanTheCurve.com reported, Conshohocken’s Borough Council recently voted to remove residential uses from the zoning code for the area encompassing the riverfront. If Morgan Properties seeks to build an apartment community on the property, it will have to seek a zoning variance or convince the borough council to amend the zoning code. An office building is an allowable use for the property.

There are currently four apartment communities along the riverfront that range from approved, but not built, to approaching their opening.

In 2021, Morgan Properties announced that it intends to move its corporate headquarters from King of Prussia to Millennium II and III.

Something to Think About

Whitpain Township recently paid $8.5 million (a very similar amount to this property in Conshohocken) for the Mermaid Lake property. To cover the expense, the board of supervisors voted to have a referendum on a tax to cover the acquisition of open space. It was estimated that it would be an extra $40 on the Earned Income Tax. The referendum passed overwhelmingly. Note that Whitpain has roughly double the population of Conshohocken.

Would you be willing to consider something similar in Conshohocken?