145 King of Prussia Road Development

By Richard F. "Rich" Booker, Esq.

Recently, I hosted a meeting for about 20 people from my Radnor neighborhood, with BioMed Realty. We wanted to meet with BioMed to discuss its planned project to redevelop the old Wyeth site on King of Prussia Road.

The company's most recent plan is to build a residential complex and two office towers on the site. These plans had been reviewed with the Radnor Board of Commissioners on the 18th of March. After hearing their proposal on the 18th of March, I asked BioMed if they would meet directly with the neighbors, and they graciously accepted.

At our meeting, the developers made a very well reasoned case for their planned development.

While it is still very early in the development stage, we suggested that the project would have less impact from a traffic standpoint if a different type of structure were built. In addition, several people noted that the planned residential building would likely result in an increase in students in the Radnor School District, this too was a concern. At over $21,000 per child, new students are costly to Radnor's taxpayers.

We requested that instead of office towers and a residential building, that a new hotel for the Township would be an excellent alternative.

A new hotel could potentially have a lesser impact on traffic in the area (especially during peak traffic hours). Further, a hotel would not over-burden the school district with tens or hundreds of new students. Finally, the hotel option could provide the best return on investment for the developer, as the location is perfect for that use, as noted by several professional consultants.

Consequently, we are advocating as neighbors of the development in Radnor's second ward, that the Board of Commissioners, the Radnor community as a whole and the developers further review the potential use of the site for a new hotel. Further, I believe that this type of use would generally garner greater acceptance by Radnor residents + at least it would likely be more favorably viewed than would the currently proposed plan.

It could be a win-win-win for the community, with everyone obtaining the best possible result. This is one instance where the community, coming together with the developer and local government, could provide the best possible outcome for private and public interests alike.