Saturday
July 27, 2024 
Construction of a massive apartment complex that is consuming the corner of North Broad Street and Atkinson Drive in Doylestown Borough is well underway.
Once the site of The Intelligencer newspaper, the 7½-acre property is being transformed into 233 apartments spread across three buildings. A swimming pool is included in the design.
Approximately 10,000 square feet of retail space will be on the ground level. What type of businesses will occupy that area isn’t known, although a restaurant is expected to be one of them.
The third building, a seven-story structure, is being erected in the far corner of the site, near Center Square Towers, a neighboring apartment complex.
As the yet-unnamed complex continues to rise, installation of a new traffic signal at the intersection is just a few months away, said Phil Ehlinger, the borough’s deputy manager.
When the project is completed, Ehlinger said, Atkinson Drive will be rebuilt, with bikes lanes on each side of road and a narrow median in the center. No information on when the complex will be finished was available.
More than 100 new trees are expected to be planted in the vicinity, along with 750 shrubs and other plantings, Ehlinger said. One wooded acre that borders the U.S. Post Office property will become a public park with walking paths and benches, he added.
The borough’s planning commission recommended approval of the plan a little more than three years ago. The only dissenting vote was Heather Mahaley’s, who expressed concern about the housing’s affordability and traffic. At the time, the real estate developer, Villanova-based CornerstoneTracy, said rents would be “market rate.”
“This is one of the biggest developments we’ve seen or will see in the borough,” said Ehlinger, in earlier comments.
Across North Broad Street, a 60-unit townhouse development is being planned where the property extends into Doylestown Township. As part of the deal, the borough’s part of the land that fronts North Broad will be a dog park.
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