Kennett Square mayor: ‘Everybody wants to build here’ – Daily Local News

KENNETT SQUARESo many people want to live in Kennett Square, developers are running out of space to build homes, businesses and restaurants.

"We are constantly getting building requests from developers," Kennett Square Matt Fetick told members of the Longwood Rotary Club this week. "Our borough codes department is staffed by three people and they have dozens upon dozens of applications sitting in front of them for rehabs and new construction and development. Our planning commission constantly hears from developers who want to build."

A real estate development company based in West Chester is building the Lofts, which will include nearly 100 high-end luxury apartments in the western section in the 600 block of West State Street, within easy distance of the downtown historic district. Work is also underway for a four-story, 175-unit luxury apartment complex on a 14.4-acre tract on Millers Hill Road, very close to the Kennett Area YMCA which includes underground parking. And construction will finish soon on Kennett Crossing, located at 753-754 West Cypress Street that includes 7,500 square feet of retail and office space.

In the past few years, Kennett Square has become known throughout the region as a destination town, with events like the Mushroom Festival, the Mushroom Drop, the Kennett Run, Brewfest, and many more. In fact, in the past five years, five brewpubs have popped up, and council even handcrafted an ordinance encouraging them.

According to official census figures, Kennett Square, which encompasses 1.1 square miles, is home to nearly 7,000 residents, but Fetick says it's closer to 12,000 due to undocumented citizens. The borough is entering its fifth year without a tax increase, boosted largely through income received by new construction.

Fetick said officials are at a point they have to balance whether they encourage more construction, which keeps tax hikes at bay and increases the tax base, or to turn it away and let residential homeowners pay more in taxes."

The Lofts, the latest development, will bring in significant tax revenue, Fetick said.

"The tax revenue alone from that development from the school district and the borough is more than twice per year what the last two tax increases were across the entire borough," Fetick said. "That's huge."

And there is still one huge chunk of land that, if developed, could necessitate the construction of a new school in the Kennett Consolidated School District. It's NVF.

The 27-acre NVF property off Mulberry Street has had environmental issues. At one time, the Nozesky junkyard was located next to NVF, or National Vulcanized Fibre. More than 20 years ago, more than 2,000 drums at the junkyard were dug up by the Environmental Protection Agency.

But remediation of the site should be finished sometime this year. Owner George Beer, the founder and president of the Delaware Valley Development Company, could sell it off to a developer.

"That single parcel makes up 18 percent of the entire borough mass," Fetick said. "One developer will control 18 percent of this town. That's a really big deal."

But it can't happen without borough council's approval. The land is zoned industrial, and would need to be rezoned.

"I expect to see mostly housing there," Fetick said. "I don't want to take traffic away from the center of town. The worst thing we can do is create another retail district in another part of town that may have perceived better parking, and downtown Main Street deteriorates."

At one time there was talk of a developer's interest to build 60 units of affordable senior housing to the site if concessions were granted by borough officials.

"I am passionate about senior housing and allowing seniors to age in place," Fetick said.

Developers are choosing to build high-end luxury apartments in Kennett Square because demand is high.

A recent marketing survey of 466 employees of Genesis, Chatham financial, Exelon and Kennett Consolidated School District, among others, found that living close to work is very important. And a majority said they would consider downsizing to a luxury, maintenance-free apartment.

"Everybody wants to build here," Fetick said.

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Kennett Square mayor: 'Everybody wants to build here' - Daily Local News