Monday, September 19, 2011

West Chester's "First Block" changes ownership

While it may not appear to have been mostly empty from the outside, it has been over a year since the county moved most of it's offices out of the "first block" and put the 153,000 square foot parcel up for bid. As of yesterday, the Chester County Commissioners accepted the bid by 2 North High Street Associates, a partnership headed by Eli Kahn and Jack Loew. Paying 4.5 million, they were selected over the bid submitted by Stan Zukin and his partner, Penguin Real Estate Investors. The 4.5 million is far lower than the 15 million the space was estimated to be worth in February of this past year.

The Historic Chester County Courthouse has stood in the center of downtown West Chester since 1846 and was designed by the famous Thomas U. Walter who also designed the dome of the United States Capital. This parcel has been kept by the County and is to be preserved at an estimated cost of 3 million. The majority of the center square of downtown West Chester will be redesigned by Kahn and Loew.

Of particular interest to town residents is the building previously held the Mosteller Department store. A vocal group has demanded that this building be preserved. On September 14th, in an article in the Daily Local News, by MICHAEL P. RELLAHAN, he writes that Kahn and Loew have said they would work with borough officials and residents to find an appropriate way to either renovate the Mosteller property and the other buildings or redevelop them, but they have given no assurances that the Mosteller property would be saved. Meanwhile, Zukin had publicly promised to save the building as a cornerstone of the borough’s historic “First Block” with a mix of retail, office and residential. useshttp://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2011/09/14/news/doc4e6fd98be06a3953364142.txt

There is no doubt that the design and development of this critical central piece of property will effect how West Chester is experienced for residents and visitors for decades if not centuries to come. West Chester became the county seat in 1786. Some feel West Chester has changed dramatically over it's 200 plus year history, while other see it as holding onto it's traditional charm.

One major hurdle we have seen time and time again for small businesses in West Chester is gaining ownership of the buildings in which they operate. High rental costs can drive them out of business or to other locations. A healthy and vibrant economic community attracts more visitors and supporters of local businesses. Hopefully the Kahn/Loews plan will take both economic stimulus and small business owner success into account as they take on the very large responsibility of designing for West Chester's future.




1 comment:

  1. It's still not clear to me how the original courthouse (not the annex) is going to be used. I wish this had been discussed and decided before the courts moved. If money is not spent to maintain it, it will deteriorate and eventually become an eyesore that will be torn down. And if there is no good purpose for it, you know funds just will not be there for its maintenance. I see a cloudy future for West Chester's "first block."

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