Bowman plans to restore properties
by Jennifer Katz

The Avenue in Chestnut Hill has become a reflection of the country’s economic crisis with more than 30 empty storefronts, many of which are attributable to the closing of long-standing businesses.

This year the Hill’s own Bowman Properties, led by Richard Snowden, is hoping to turn the tide by investing in the historic restoration of three properties along Germantown Avenue.

It’s a noticeable change of pace for Bowman, which has held the properties now planned for development for quite some time. And for much of that time, some of those properties have been vacant.

That change was evident in a series of ads the developer took out in the Local last week and preceded by a noticeable presence of Bowman Properties workers who have been busily refurbishing many of the firm’s properties on Germantown Avenue.

Seth Shapiro, who is leading Bowman’s development team, is set to begin working on the Magarity lot purchased in the fall of 2008. Shapiro said the opportunity to develop the former car dealership site at the corner of Germantown Avenue and Hartwell Lane sparked renewed interest in bringing life to these parcels.

“We are extremely confident in the direction of Chestnut Hill,”” he said. “The Business Association has nice momentum at the moment and is really making Chestnut Hill more business friendly.”

At Germantown and Willow Grove Avenues, the Lorenzon building takes up the corner lot before stretching along Willow Grove several more feet. The 1926 structure houses 2,500 square feet of retail space on the first floor and two stories of apartments above.

Bowman plans to restore the faççade to its 1926 appearance and update the fire suppression system and the utilities before leasing the space. The apartments are already occupied.

“We think it would make a great space for a restaurant,” Shapiro said. “However, that being said, if another use came along that would be appropriate we would consider that as well.”

The Middle-Eastern eatery Shundeez was planning to occupy space in the building in 2005, but opted instead for the Top of the Hill plaza.

Shapiro said preliminary work had begun, and the project should be completed by late summer or early fall.

Down the street at 7908-10 Germantown Ave., the former Reale’s market is the second building Bowman is taking on this year. The market, which is described as the Caruso’s of its day, closed in the 1960s. The restoration of the market — the 3,300 square feet of retail space on the first floor —comes after the restoration of the upstairs apartments last year.

The work should be done by the end of the year, and Shapiro said it would not include an expansion of the footprint.

Bowman’s third restoration project, to be done over the next year, is its most ambitious as well. Historic Gravers House is a combination storefront and former residence. The house was originally built in the 19th century, predating the storefront that is from the early 20th century.

Bowman’s plans for the building facing Gravers Lane includes a complete rehab of the existing 4,000 square feet of retail space, which will be broken into three or four spaces and the building of additional space on the second and third stories. The additional space will provide 5,000 square feet for condominiums.

Plans for Gravers House were originally completed in 2005, and Shapiro said the zoning approvals from that time are still valid but will need to be recertified. Work on Gravers House is scheduled to overlap with the other two projects and should be complete sometime next year.

Shapiro said there is no new information on the future of the Magarity site. The plan continues to include a retail space and a mix of residential development including town homes and apartments. Nonetheless, it is the opportunity to develop a site of significant size — that is driving Bowman.

“Magarity is providing us with an opportunity to focus more on development,” he said. “Many developers are using the current economic downturn to sit on the sidelines, but Bowman’s strategy is the opposite. It is not a time to be sitting on the sidelines. It is a time to invest and make change.”