Where is the proposed development located?
The 10-acre site of the new shopping center is along Horseshoe Pike (Route 322), just northwest of N. Guthriesville Road. It will sit next to the Brandywine Village Shopping Center.
What does the development plan include?
The 65,000-square-foot shopping center will be anchored by a Giant Food grocery store, which will occupy 51,500 square feet. The remaining 9,500 square feet of retail space will be leased to businesses which complement the grocery chain.
What traffic improvements will be made as part of the development plan?
After consultation with our engineers, East Brandywine’s engineers and PennDOT, and following the completion of comprehensive traffic studies, it was determined that a new connector road should be built between Horseshoe Pike (Route 322) and North Guthriesville Road along the eastern property line. This improvement is in addition to other township and PennDOT mandated improvements.
What role does the connector road play in the traffic improvements?
The connector road, which will have a traffic light, will alleviate the dangerous left turn from N. Guthriesville onto 322 across from the municipal building. The access road will be an improvement of considerable value to the local infrastructure. The developer of the shopping center, Carlino East Brandywine, L.P., will pay for the cost of the road in addition to paying certain traffic impact fees to East Brandywine Township.
What needs to happen for this public road to be built?
A portion of a property known as the “Spence Property” must be utilized to make way for the connector road. The owner of the Spence Property has opposed the construction of the road forcing the township to condemn the small portion of the Spence property required to construct the connector road. Condemnation hearings for this parcel took place in May 2017 and a ruling is expected from Chester County Court of Common Pleas during the summer of 2017.
Is it true that the government is taking a man’s house in order to build this road?
No, that is not true. There are no residential buildings on the Spence Property and no person will be displaced by the building of the access road. The Connector Road has been a long-planned Township project dating back to 2007 that the purchaser of the Spence property was aware of when it acquired the Spence property.
How many jobs is the development and the shopping center expected to bring to East Brandywine?
In addition to the many jobs the building of the access road and shopping center will create in East Brandywine, a Giant store of this size is likely to require more than loyees. Giant provides its employees with competitive wages as well as health and other benefits. The retailers occupying the remaining 9,500 square feet of the shopping center will also require dozens of employees.
What other benefits will the East Brandywine Center have for the community?
The new Giant store and its complementing retailers are expected to have a significant impact on public tax revenue. Estimated property taxes are $223,000.00 per year and are paid to the Downingtown School District, Chester County and East Brandywine Township.
The East Brandywine Giant will have organic and prepared foods sections. Most local residents have long expressed a desire to have a modern grocery store in the vicinity, and Giant aims to provide the East Brandywine community with the healthy food, fair pricing, choice, and convenience that is needed at this time.
