The Conshohocken building boom continues with a big apartment complex near SEPTA train

A Berwyn-based development firm has started building a 304-unit apartment complex in Conshohocken that would add to the borough’s already bursting downtown.

The 450,000 square-foot rental apartment complex at 51 Washington St., to be built by LCOR, is a quarter-mile from Conshohocken’s main drag on Fayette Street and joins the boom of commercial and residential development in the one-square-mile borough that borders the Schuylkill River.

LCOR, which focuses on constructing large, mixed-use properties, said the seven-story development — about 355 feet from Conshohocken’s new SEPTA train station — was designed to allow easy access to public transportation.

“With its growing employment opportunities and close proximity to Philadelphia’s city center, Conshohocken is a thriving economy to which we’re eager to contribute,” Peter DiLullo, LCOR’s principal and senior vice president, said in a statement.

It would rank among the biggest projects that are underway in Conshohocken, the largest of which is $325 million SORA West, an ambitious and expansive mixed-use development by the Philadelphia-based investment and development company Keystone Property Group.

A 11-story, 427,000-square-foot office building at the corner of Fayette and West First Streets would become the headquarters for the pharmaceutical distributor AmerisourceBergen and serve as the anchor for SORA West. The Philadelphia commercial real estate company Binswanger represents AmerisourceBergen.

A 1,500-space parking garage and 165-room hotel with a restaurant would surround AmerisourceBergen’s office. The developer has also said it intended to convert the nearby 139-year-old Conshohocken Firehouse into a gastropub as part of the project.

Other sizable developments, such as the 14-story, 260,000 square foot Seven Tower Bridge office building built by Oliver Tyrone Pulver Corp. and its partners, have drawn ire from some borough residents. They have complained that new high-end commercial and real estate properties are increasing the borough’s living costs.

The average rent in Conshohocken was $1,556 in March 2017, and grew to $1,638 in February 2020, according to the national apartment listing service RentCafe. The national average in March 2017 was $1,337 and $1,468 in February. The borough’s average rent price closely compared with Philadelphia’s, at $1,652.

Overall, the cost of living in Conshohocken — the 28th most expensive place in Pennsylvania — was 11% higher on average than the rest of the state , and 17% higher than the national average, according to the Irvine, Calif.-based ERI Economic Research Institute.

Rent prices at LCOR’s 51 Washington St., which will have units ranging from studios to two-bedrooms, will span $1,650 to $2,800, said Donna Haldipur, a company spokesperson.

The complex is expected to be ready for rentals by the fall of 2022.

Staff writer Joseph N. DiStefano contributed to this article.