Whitehall at Bryn Mawr: Putting a new face on the concept of workforce housing
July 7th, 2011
Nestled within the storied confines of Bryn Mawr, along Pennsylvania Avenue, stand 28 (when complete) new luxury townhomes. Developed as part of a master planned in-fill parcel which includes a newly constructed 5 level parking structure and will also be the home of a new Class A medical office building; Whitehall is bucking today’s housing trends, with sales far outpacing expectations.
Owned and developed by the Pennsylvania Avenue Townhouses, LP (a partnership between Main Line Health Real Estate, LP and Trammell Crow Company) and constructed under the careful eye of the Vaughan Building Group, LLC – home sales have been strong. Since the grand opening on January 15th, 11 of 18 homes available for sale are under agreement, with prices beginning in the low $600,000’s.
Situated neatly between the SEPTA Paoli/Thorndale Regional Rail Line and the Route 100 High Speed Line and two short blocks from the commercial center of Bryn Mawr, Lancaster Ave., homeowners have multiple transportation options for stress free commuting. In addition to its adjacency to a major employment center like Bryn Mawr Hospital, within an easy stroll from Whitehall is a wide selection of restaurants & shops, a newly expanded community Library, and the Bryn Mawr Film Institute. With options like these so close at hand, one would seldom need to move their car from any one of the 4 off street parking spaces available to each home owner (2 garage and 2 apron).
Conceived as a building-oriented solution to help screen a large parking structure, these new homes have taken on their own identity. Combining a rich palate of exterior materials, color and traditional detailing, the townhomes at Whitehall show that highly durable, contemporary materials, while low maintenance, can also be used to express luxury. At 4 floors and over 2900 square feet of livable space the homes not only provide an effective screen to the parking garage, but are also sympathetic in scale to the surrounding neighborhood streets.
Fitting these new homes into the surrounding area was essential. Chip Vaughan notes that “the covered porches and balconies, which are key elements of the homes, form a bridge between the new neighbors and the existing community.”
Whitehall shows that development opportunities are where you find them. Today our clients are increasingly non-conventional housing developers, including both public and private companies, who are looking to solve problems and address needs by partnering with residential builders. These unique opportunities offer potential for success in today’s challenged marketplace by addressing the core needs of buyers that are not provided for elsewhere.