Brixmor Details Plans For Barn Plaza In Doylestown Township

DOYLESTOWN TOWNSHIP, PA ? Officials with Brixmor Property Group gave Doylestown Township officials a sneak peek this week at what?s ahead for the Barn Plaza in 2024.

Bill Grimmel, the vice president of redevelopment with Brixmor, which owns and manages the Barn, unveiled architectural renderings showing the new Whole Foods store that will be opening at the plaza next year on Route 611 in Doylestown Township.

Whole Foods and a new Barnes and Noble bookstore will be taking the place of Marshall?s and Homegoods, which relocated to Cross Keys Place in Plumstead Township earlier this year.

Grimmel said Brixmor plans on incorporating the new look of the Whole Foods Store and extending it across the facade of the entire shopping center except for the Kohl?s Department store.

A rendering showing the Whole Foods Market coming to the Barn. (Brixmor Property Group)

?We will be renovating all the facades to be more in line with the look of the Whole Foods,? said Grimmel.

Brixmor will also be appearing before the township?s zoning hearing board in January where it will be seeking zoning relief to redevelop the Applebee's and the former 48,000-square-foot Regal Cinema at the far end of the shopping center.

Regal closed its Barn Plaza cinema earlier this year after the nationwide movie theater chain declared bankruptcy and began shuttering theaters across the nation.

At about the same time the plaza lost its stand-alone Applebee?s restaurant, which suddenly closed its doors in May.

?We?ve had a lot of turmoil but we?re going to turn it into a lot of good news,? Grimmel told the supervisors. ?We?re very excited to present the plan of what we?re looking to do with Barn Plaza.?

According to Grimmel, Brixmor plans to redevelop the former Barn cinema and Applebee?s restaurant sites with new retail stores and restaurant uses.

?We will be creating a multi-tenant building out where the Applebees sits right now and we?re very close to leases,? said Grimmel. ?One of the tenants will be a drive-thru but it would be online ordering such that it wouldn?t be a big demand of cars.?

At the former Regal site, three new upscale buildings are envisioned including 7,600 square feet of medical office space, 24,000 square feet of retail space, and 9,000 square feet of restaurant space.

?It?s slightly less square footage than what is there today,? said Grimmel. ?We will be looking for zoning relief for this project.?

These renderings show what is envisioned for the former Barn Cinema and Applebee's sites.

Under the plan, both the former Applebee?s and the former theater will be demolished to make way for the new construction.

The Doylestown Township Zoning Hearing Board is scheduled to hear the Brixmor appeal at its January 25 meeting. The appeal had originally been scheduled for Dec. 18 but was continued to January.

Brixmor will be seeking zoning relief for front and rear yard setbacks; parking relief; less than one percent for impervious coverage; parking space width; and pylon signage.

Brixmor argues that "the proposed redevelopment is consistent with the existing shopping center use, the surrounding commercial area and will not alter the character of the existing neighborhood. The requested relief is dimensional and will not cause any adverse impact to the public health and safety or the surrounding area."

The center is also home to a Kohl?s Department, Gerhard?s Appliances, Douglas Jewelers, Piccolo Trattoria, Pure Barre, Mattress Firm, and Club Pilates.

The former Regal Cinema at the Barn Plaza would be torn down to make way for new retail and restaurant space at the Barn Plaza. (Photo by Jeff Werner)