Plans to build homes on parking lots | Real Estate Newsletter

If you’re a longtime reader — or someone who goes to your local community meetings — you know that parking often pops up as an issue when a developer proposes building something new.

In downtown Collingswood, a group of developers wants to build apartments as part of a plan to replace almost two acres of parking lots. Reactions are mixed.

Keep scrolling for that story and also

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Developers see a jumble of parking lots in downtown Collingswood as a great place to build homes. They’re proposing two apartment buildings: one for the general population that charges market-rate rents and one specifically for seniors, who would pay less.

A local real estate agent and nearby property owner said the availability of public parking is one reason why the area currently is considered a prime location. Some business owners are skeptical about plans for a new parking garage at the site.

Collingswood’s mayor said the project “will provide stability and sustainability to the downtown.”

The project’s goals include:

Read more about the redevelopment proposal, including how many apartments could be coming to this part of Collingswood.

Speaking of Collingswood, the president of the Historical Society of Moorestown said he wishes his township had the kind of protections for historical properties that Collingswood has.

He said public advocacy “is not our typical thing,” but he and others are riled up over a developer’s plan to tear down two Victorian-era homes in the heart of Moorestown.

A proposal on the developer’s website shows a three-story residential building where the houses sit on the corner of Church and Main Streets. The company has owned the vacant buildings since 2006.

A handful of houses in the township are listed on state and national historic registries, and more than 400 buildings downtown are part of state and national historic districts. But none of that shields buildings from being demolished.

Keep reading to learn about previous attempts to protect buildings from demolition and what township residents are trying now.

Kevin and Tracey Jasey’s Shore home checked off a lot of boxes.

✔️ on a corner lot

✔️ an ocean view

✔️ located a few blocks from the boardwalk and beach

✔️ an easy ride from their Philadelphia home

But what really sold them on their Ventnor home was its downstairs apartment with a separate entrance. It’s been the perfect home for Tracey’s mother, who moved up from New Orleans. (I love the Shore, but NOLA is one of my favorite cities, so that would’ve been a hard choice for me.)

The Jaseys’ home was built in 1925 and needed a lot of updating and renovating. For example, they gutted their kitchen, more than doubled its size, and added a 10-foot white quartz island.

Peek inside the beach home and learn what unusual hobby the Jaseys were taking part in when they fell in love with Ventnor.

The Rutgers University Marine Field Station is a near perfect site for studying marine life and sea level rise at the Jersey Shore. But scientists know that rising seas will one day swallow the climate research center.

Question: Rutgers took over the building in the ‘70s, but the station was built for the U.S. Coast Guard in what year?

A) 1890

B) 1917

C) 1937

D) 1954

This story has the answer.

Surprise, surprise: We’ve hit a new record high for home prices.

If you’ll recall previous newsletter editions, I’ve said that before. And I’ll probably say it again, because prices have been so sticky.

They’re up significantly across the Philadelphia metro area, according to the multiple listing service Bright MLS. And that’s keeping some buyers away.

Across the Philly region in June:

🔺The median home sale price hit $400,000 for the first time, up from $370,000 last June.

🔻The number of closed home sales — 5,989 — was down 11% from a year ago.

🔺The supply of homes for sale increased for the third straight month. Our area had over 1,000 more active home listings last month than it did last June.

Lower mortgage interest rates will bring some more buyers and sellers to the market. Average rates have been hovering around 7%.

Economists have said they expect rates to fall in the second half of the year. Well, now we’re in it, so we’ll see. But don’t hold your breath waiting for average rates to fall below mid-6%.

Do you know the location this photo shows?

📮 If you think you do, email me back.

Last week’s quiz showed a photo of the Market Street Bridge over the Schuylkill. Shout out to Lars W., Danielle M., Deborah S., and Michael W. for getting that right.

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Before I jumped into the real estate world, my job as a government policy reporter included writing about census data. So I’m always interested in what population numbers have to say. And of course, there are direct connections between population trends and housing stats.

Planning experts suggest that a driving factor behind recent population shifts in the counties outside Philadelphia has been the development of multifamily housing.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

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