Have you ever noticed that large, empty lot right by the Union Avenue bridge (yeah, the one that’s not really quite wide enough for two cars that you can’t see over til you’re on it) near the Bala Cynwyd post office? It’s been vacant for years and is sandwiched between a condo building and a community gym. Looks like it won’t lay fallow much longer as a developer has recently bought it, in addition to the property across the street that has several buildings which will be razed and the old BMW lot that is no longer in use. The plan? To create Bala Village, three separate multi-family communities (read “apartments”), all with retail and restaurants on the ground floor. While this corridor could use some revitalization, especially since the movie theater’s closing, there are concerns about the sharp increase in the population density in the area. Traffic has to increase and this large addition (combined with other new buildings like the Royal Athena near the Riverside Club) can’t help but change the feeling of the neighborhood which already supported several apartments and condominium buildings. Personally, as a Bala Cynwyd resident, I don’t think it will benefit property values and I am not relishing a huge spike in residents and traffic either. I suppose only time will tell–stay tuned.
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