Real estate investment firm Ranger Properties LLC is turning a former ribbon factory in Quakertown, Pa., into a mixed-use site that will include self-storage, apartments and commercial space. Borough officials recently approved a concept plan and conditional use permit for the Thermco Products Corp. building at 1409 W. Broad St. The development will include 62 apartments, eight commercial spaces and 4,640 square feet of indoor storage, according to the source.
Built in 1919, the three-story building sits on nearly 2 acres and comprises just over 65,000 square feet of space. The site operated as a textile factory for 50 years.
“It’s excellent to see that building to be repurposed into something attractive and make it a viable part of the landscape,” said Don Rosenberger, council president.
Quakertown officials have launched rebranding efforts to attract developers to the borough’s inventory of vacant buildings. Eight projects are in progress or complete. Developers are repurposing vacant turn-of-the-century manufacturing buildings into professional offices, apartments and retail shops such as salons, boutiques and a yoga studio, the source reported.
“Efforts are paying off,” said Ed Scholl, economic-development consultant and a former borough councilman. “People drive through and they see empty storefronts, but they don’t realize there are developers who are rehabilitating buildings. People [are] reinvesting in the buildings, and these are the ones that are filling up.”
Based in New York, Ranger Properties provides development and property management. Its projects include hotels, multi-family residential and office space.
Sources:
LVB.com, Quakertown’s Quantum Leap in Development
LoopNet, 1409 W. Broad St.
