Assistance
Economic Condition


                              State of the Township’s Economy

Given the national economic climate as governments and communities begin to emerge from the financial stress brought on by the 2009 downturn, the actual state of any given economic area is a bit difficult to fully assess.  While some retail and service business sectors in Abington share the fate experienced by their counterparts in many key cities and regions across the nation, the safest statement we can make is that our overall business activity and revenue generation has remained rather stable throughout this period, which is reflective of the overall strength of our local economy.  Our economic health appears directly related to the great diversity of products, services and institutions that exist within the township, and that the absence or decline of businesses affected by the national trend seem absorbed or offset by those remaining businesses.  As testimony to this condition, we specifically note that our overall business privilege tax revenues actually increased in 2009 over previous years, and so did the Township’s Earned Income Tax revenue.  Both of these factors seem to demonstrate that while some businesses failed last year, those in business actually profited more by a slightly less competitive situation, and that the overall unemployment rate experienced nationally in other comparably sized communities was not experienced here in Abington and that some businesses actually increased employment.

 This is not to say that there was not an economic adjustment made by many of our businesses to changing economics.  The township attempted to obtain current economic information throughout the downturn by talking and interviewing selected businesses to obtain a cross sampling of the trends.  New car automotive business, which is typically strong in the township, was hard hit by the recession and resulted in a modest number of layoffs in both the sales and service side of the industry.  Another typically vibrant service field hard hit was our medical institutions, which for the first time in decades saw a modest reduction in staff, mostly through attrition, resulting from a marked decrease in elective and cosmetic surgeries.  Our banking business activity also dramatically slowed, particularly with respect to the housing mortgages and personal loans, but none of our twenty five branch banks closed or curtailed business services.  Our hardest hit businesses collectively include about fifty of our smaller, mom and pop type shops which report only marginal ability to continue to pay rents and orders. 

 What has been a bit more obvious to the naked eye in assessing our economic state has been a perceived increase in the number of store vacancies throughout our nine business district areas.  Our calculations suggest that for the first time in two decades, our vacancy rate has exceeded five percent.  The Economic Development Office attempted to assess the reasons for this, and found that not all was related to the economic downturn.  Some of our larger vacancies (over 100,000 square feet in total) resulted from chain retailers whose collapse was experienced on the national front or went bankrupt when many of their more successful stores could no longer carry the national or regional burden.  These vacancies include chains such as Linens and Things, and Circuit City.  An encouraging sign for Abington is that both of these sites are scheduled to reopen this year with new businesses entering the Abington market for the first time. 

 Abington contains a major regional attractor with its Willow Grove Park Mall, home to over 100 retail stores and over one million square feet of commercial uses.  The Township was concerned when the Boscov’s anchor deal failed here – again a national chain – and the effect it might have on the Mall and its revenue income stream with a 40,000 square foot vacancy.  The Economic Development Office interviewed the Mall Management in early 2010 and offered grant and program assistance to its owners.  The Office was delighted to be informed that the Mall was not in need of any economic program assistance because its tenancy was strong and the Boscov’s site was spoken for, but the new tenants could not yet be revealed. The management team indicated that what tenant vacancy was visible in the mall currently is actually all “planned vacancy” since periodically the Mall deliberately shifts tenants based and research and creating new curb appeal, so that there is actually a one hundred percent occupancy status minus the Boscov space.  This case situation is absolutely indicative or evidence of what we earlier described as a diverse economic component to our local and regional economy.  Our Mall strives to continually be ranked by its professional associations as being among the Philadelphia’s Region’s top retail malls, and despite the national economic downturn, it continues to hold the region’s third most profitable mall location status, surpassed only in Pennsylvania by the massive King of Prussia Mall Complex.

 The remaining observable vacancies throughout our nine business districts have similar situations to the Mall in that the vacancy is more related to specific development issues that lie beyond the effect of the economy, that we cannot say they are a victim of the national economic downturn.  As with a few cases along our major corridors, the vacancy is created by owner intention in preparation for more development opportunity, awaiting zoning decisions, state permit approvals, or further corporate decisions just not ripe at this moment in time.  As an example, the General Motors Corporation owns three parcels of land along our Old York Road corridor which were vacant at the start of this year.  Rather than sell the sites to eliminate a non-productive asset, GM has spent significant dollars to demolish the buildings on the sites, and anticipates the arrival of new dealerships at some time in the not to distant future.    

 Another important index in determining a municipality’s local economic health is the number and quality of site redevelopment projects, and the amount of new business attraction.  In the 2009-2010 time periods, Abington has seen the following redevelopments activity.

 The Duke Reality Corporation had purchased a five acre site containing an antiquated manufacturing building.  It early 2010, it obtained financing and has commenced construction bringing an LA Fitness Center, a bank building, and a 30,000 square foot office building and restaurant to the Glenside district.  Bryner Chevrolet, upon termination of their long time lease in the southern part of the town has decided to relocate within our borders, and is currently developing a four acre site in the center of town to continue the Chevrolet franchise.  The site vacated by Bryner is targeted by the Wawa Corporation for development of a super Wawa store with gasoline service station facilities. The Brandolini Corporation, following a relatively recent purchase of an 18 acre shopping center site, has filed permits this year to renovate the center with a complete façade overhaul.   The township successfully recruited a California-based firm known as Mediplex to establish a biomedical facility in township which in addition to building renovation will bring twenty five new, high skill jobs to the area.  A local engineering firm employing twenty five high tech engineering jobs in the field of forensic science has decided to redevelop three parcels it owns along our Route 611 corridor rather than relocate to another area thereby retaining these jobs in the township.  There are currently several additional projects in the early planning stages that are indicative of a continued successful economic future, such as a local athletic club contemplating transforming its facilities into a one hundred room hotel site.  These are all signs that Abington can expect a bright future despite some national trends.

 In contemplation of this bright future, Abington recently applied for and was a successful recipient of a $ 275,000 Pennsylvania Communities Transportation Initiative grant, which is only awarded to promising and growing towns in Pennsylvania.  We are currently partnering in this grant project with SEPTA, our area transit company, and with Penn DOT, our state transportation agency, to create a Transit Oriented Development Center in and around our Noble Train Station near the center of our town off the Route 611 corridor.  In addition to renovating the Station, SEPTA is contemplating installing additional trains to our R3 center city service line, and to institute its R1 high speed line to the Philadelphia International Airport.  SEPTA will also partner with the town in developing structured parking for the area which will be a significant asset to the town’s contemplated mixed use and life-style development project between the Station and The Fairway, a major town center roadway which will form the heart of the planned mixed use and TOD complex.   The Township is currently rewriting its zoning code to provide for this future development which has been established through a recently adopted comprehensive study for the area.  The project has captured the attention of Penn DOT, which is working with the Township to customize reconstruction of the 611 Noble Bridge with wider pedestrian sidewalks, lights and enhanced crosswalks to accommodate the bridge as a gateway to the Train Station and the TOD center.

 In addition to our TOD project, the Township continues to develop revitalization plans that are seeing goals and projects come into fruition.  The Township recently completed a new Revitalization Plan for the Roslyn Business District and it has already caught the eye of SEPTA, which is redesigning its Roslyn Train Station entrance to make it more pedestrian friendly and safer for vehicle access.  Under the plan, the County has assisted the Township in acquiring a new pocket park for the Roslyn business community, and in funding improvements to make it a town center focus for the district.

 The town will also be undertaking a business study in 2010 to address parking improvements in the Keswick Village Business District.  The town’s first business revitalization plan was developed for Keswick in 1996.  The success of the plan has created the demand for more parking, especially with the success of the Keswick Theatre, which is a regional entertainment attractor.  The plan will focus on parking lot improvements, the creation of possible structured parking facilities, and the formation of a potential parking authority.

In summary, the analysis undertaken by the Economic Development Office and the evidence as suggested by our increasing business and EIT tax, the conditioned nature of many vacancies, the overall number of land development plans and the quality of proposed redevelopment projects, and the business and new job opportunities arriving in town, all serve to support the position that the great diversity of our commercial and service industries has enabled Abington to weather the national economic downturn in a relatively healthy and undiminished style.