it's what you want to know
From Devon Manor to The Royal Devon?
Could be.
Developer Brian O’Neill confirms that he’s now the proud owner of the large and long-in-the-tooth nursing home/rehab complex on Lancaster Ave.
Residents and patients are being relocated, 124 staffers are looking for new jobs, and Devon Manor goes dark next month.
This is prime real estate, folks – 8.6 acres with lots of frontage on Route 30 and a deep lot. And just a skip and a jump from the Devon train station.
So what will O’Neill do with it?
Just when you thought Urban Outfitters’ deal for the old Waterloo site might be kaput comes wondrous news: Devon Yards is alive and kicking.
Urban and developer Eli Kahn have agreed on a new plan – their fourth, by our count – that nixes both bugaboos: the four-story apartment building and the parking garage.
The revised proposal is strictly retail and restaurants – nothing residential.
Just what the neighbors ordered.
Well, what do you know? We’re getting a Pizzeria Vetri after all.
Just not in Devon. Not yet. And maybe never, the way Devon Yard’s going lately.
Urban Outfitters Inc. is clustering four of its brands near its Urban Outfitters store at the King of Prussia Mall’s Pavilion.
By mid-fall, we’ll get another Anthropologie, a Free People (relocated from the other end of the Court), and yes, that Pizzeria Vetri (with bar & lounge) that we’ve all been pining for. At the mall.
Meanwhile, back in dear Devon, the Yard project is as mired in weeds and thorns as the old Waterloo plot on which it would sit.
Yuck runs amuck: Neighbor vs. neighbor. Little guy vs. “big, bad” developer. Homeowners’ concerns vs. township interests. Threats and counter-threats.
Ugh.
The latest: Red “Promote Easttown: Support Devon Yard” signs dueling with blue “Save Devon” yard signs around town. (And yup, the first homeowner to put up a red sign last week – architect John Toates – says he found it lying in his mulch the next morning – which is exactly what allegedly happened when the blue signs went up a few months ago. Oy.)
Developer Eli Kahn’s 60-foot high hopes have been officially and forever dashed.
After huddling with disgruntled Devon neighbors, he’s just unveiled a new plan that lops off the top floor of his proposed Devon Yard apartments and cuts the number of units from 135 to 100.
Was it the blue yard signs that sprouted like spring weeds along adjoining streets after that very vocal public meeting?
A new H-O-T spot for your restaurant radar: Maya.J.
After cooking his way ’round the world, Main Line native Craig Wilson has brought his sizzling sauté pans home.
Lucky us.
Open since Feb. 3, locals are flocking to Wilson’s Maya.J in Manayunk. (The ‘Yunk being where the Main Line schleps when we’ve had enough Estia chips already).
