Economic Development
The $29M Hyatt House opened in the fall of 2011, featuring 147 guest rooms and 3,300 SF of meeting and event space.
Anchored by Wegmans, a $50M investment that created 700 new jobs when the 140,000 SF retailer opened in 2012, The Village at Valley Forge has quickly become KOP’s new downtown. The 126-acre mixed-use community is now home to more than 2,900 housing units and major institutions like Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and Main Line Health.
Following a $100M investment, the Valley Forge Casino Resort opened in March 2012, adding 900 new jobs to KOP. Since then, the region’s only full-amenity gaming resort continues to invest in their property, including a $1M renovation of the convention center in 2014 and $6M in renovations to the Casino Tower in 2017. In 2018, the property was acquired by Boyd Gaming for $280.5M. Boyd quickly renovated its 50,000 SF event space and expanded the gaming floor with 250 new slot machines. In December 2019, the casino entered the sports betting market, and has enjoyed record-breaking revenues ever since.
King of Prussia opened two new hotels in 2012: The $30M Sheraton Valley Forge that generated 100 new jobs and features 180 guest rooms, 25,000 SF of meeting space, an 11,000 SF ballroom, an indoor pool and a fitness center; and the $15M SpringHill Suites by Marriott that features 131 suites and created 29 new jobs when it opened.
Façade renovations were completed at the Valley Forge Shopping Center at Town Center Road and DeKalb Pike. The project included demolition of half of the outdated retail center and a complete overhaul of the façade of the remaining half.
The largest Target store on the east coast, clocking in at 165,000 SF, opened at the Valley Forge Shopping Center, adding nearly 250 jobs to King of Prussia.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) opened their four-story, 135,000 SF King of Prussia Specialty Care & Surgery Center in The Village at Valley Forge in 2015. The facility includes 68 exam rooms, more than 30 medical and surgical subspecialties, sports medicine and PT/OT gyms, a pediatric imaging center, a day hospital for oncology patients, a sleep center, an urgent care center and an ambulatory surgery center.
Completed in 2016 in just two years, King of Prussia Mall’s $150M, 155,000 SF expansion connected its former two buildings into one shopping mecca. Now the East Coast’s largest shopping mall features 450+ luxury and first-to-market retailers, Savor food court, valet parking and a concierge. In early 2020, Simon Property Group, Inc. invested approximately $25M in upgrades to the section of the mall formerly known as the “Plaza.”
The heart of The Village at Valley Forge, the 260,000 SF King of Prussia Town Center began leasing to tenants in 2016 and continues to attract first-to-market retailers and restaurants centered around its lively Town Square.
The first multifamily development to open in The Village at Valley Forge, Indigo 301, features 363 contemporary one, two and three-bedroom apartments just steps away from Main Street at KOP Town Center. Down the road on Dekalb Pike, Candlebrook Properties transformed the former Marquis Apartments into 251 DEKALB, offering 650 studio, one, two and three-bedroom units situated in a 26-acre gated community. The $63M acquisition and subsequent $50M renovation project transformed one of KOP’s most troubled properties into the first luxury housing development in nearly 20 years.
The new 315,897 SF FedEx Distribution Center, which employs about 200 people, opened in 2016 after a $52M build out.
Built in 2016, the 70,000 SF state-of-the-art Upper Merion Township Community Center offers an array of classes, camps and activities for residents and non-residents. The Center is equipped with an indoor track, group fitness rooms, multiple courts, meeting spaces and a cooking studio.
In 2017, 559 new multifamily units came online, all at The Village at Valley Forge. Canvas Valley Forge, built by The Bozzuto Group, is the first active adult (55+) apartment complex in KOP and features 231 one and two-bedroom units with enclosed first floor parking, an infinity pool and outdoor dining areas, a spa, a dog park, workshop space and a community garden. Developed by Hanover Properties and Realen Properties, Omnia Town Center was called Hanover Valley Forge before it was sold in 2018 to MetLife Real Estate Investors for $75.33M, or $221,238 a unit. Omnia features 339 studio, one and two-bedroom and includes an outdoor courtyard with pool and fire pit, a fitness center, a cinema, a demonstration kitchen and a gaming area.
Developed in 2017 by Brandywine Realty Trust for GeoBlue’s corporate headquarters, the 110,000 SF build-to-suit Class-A office building in Moore Park (then known as the KOP Business Park) includes a gym, private company café and a full training center. This was the first new office building constructed in KOP in over 15 years.
In an effort to modernize the township’s outdated schools, Upper Merion Area School District invested $64M in two new K-4 elementary schools, each with a capacity of 525 students. Caley and Gulph Elementary Schools opened in September 2018 and enabled the district to offer full-day kindergarten for the first time.
KOP experienced an apartment boom in 2018, with 1,246 multifamily units opening, all with their own unique aesthetics and flush with luxury amenities. In The Village at Valley Forge, three properties opened in 2018. The Smith Valley Forge features 320 one to three-bedroom apartments. Located across the street from its sister property, Hanover Town Center features 339 studio, one, two and three-bedroom apartments. AVE King of Prussia by Korman Communities offers 274 furnished and unfurnished flexible stay units. In Moore Park, KOP, Bentley Homes and CornerstoneTracy Development opened Park Square. The property, which was later acquired by UDR, features 313 one to three-bedroom apartments in four buildings surrounding a central park.
Discovery Labs is a 1.6 M SF campus that includes 1M SF of former GlaxoSmithKline manufacturing and office space at 411 Swedeland Road. In 2020, Developer Brian O’Neill announced that he teamed up with Deerfield Management Co. to launch the Center for Breakthrough Medicines in 680,000 SF at Discovery Labs that would serve as a manufacturing facility for companies needing a place to outsource cell-and-gene therapy and other production.
KOP’s multifamily housing market continued to heat up in 2019. Toll Brothers sold the last of their 132 stacked, for-sale townhomes, The Brownstones, in The Village at Valley Forge. Also in The Village, the Hanover Company opened their third property, Hanover Town Center, featuring 392 studio, one, two and three-bedroom units. Situated on 5.2 acres in the center of Moore Park, SKYE 750 opened in 2019. The five-story apartment complex features 248 one and two-bedroom units.
Main Line Health is now accepting patients at their $32M, 94,000 SF health center, which includes a specialty care center for women in partnership with Axia Women’s Health. The seven-story building features a demo kitchen, interactive wellness classes and a rooftop farm. Services include primary care, heart health, obstetrics and gynecology, breast health, skin care and emotional wellness. An ambulatory care center offers a variety of services to men and women.
Childen’s Hospital of Philadelphia is now welcoming patients at its first inpatient hospital outside of Philadelphia. Located next to its existing King of Prussia Specialty Care & Surgery Center, the 250,000 SF, $298M inpatient hospital known as the Middleman Family Pavilion, includes a total of 108 single patient rooms, care for a broad range of pediatric specialties, a 24/7 20-bay emergency department specializing in pediatric care and an operating room suite.