April 10, 2017
Source/MRA Group
Rendering of redevelopment plans for Spring House Technology park in Lower Gwynedd Township.
A sprawling corporate campus and laboratory grounds in Lower Gwynedd Township will undergo its first transformation in more than 20 years after Horsham-based general contractor MRA Group announced its acquisition of the property from The Dow Group on Monday.
The Spring House Technology Park, located at 727 Norristown Road, north of the Fort Washington exit of the Pennsylvania Turnpike, is set to become a multi-use technology campus with laboratory incubation and commercialization center, a boutique hotel and retail village.
MRA Group senior vice president Mike Wojewodka said the campus, which covers 133 acres at an interchange with the Route 309 Expressway, will refashion the park's existing 591,000 square feet of office space spread across 11 buildings.
"Our focus is in attracting companies that can best utilize the robust existing laboratory infrastructure at one of the best locations in the Philadelphia region," Wojewodka said.
The anticipated campus environment will include university-affiliated center for innovation and advanced production, new co-working space with on-demand offices and shared facilities, and various amenities ranging from on-site childcare to a fitness center.
At the 40,000-square-foot retail village, MRA Group has plans for restaurants and shops to serve businesses at the campus. A barn at the site will be transformed into a coffee shop and the surrounding grounds will feature an outdoor amphitheater and nature trails for use by tenants and the community.
“The opportunities presented on this campus are complex," said Heather DeFraytas, vice president for project design and management at MRA Group. "Design and construction for each building will reflect a balance between technology, innovation, sustainability and the neighboring environment. Though some of the buildings appear tired now, they in fact possess features that are very much desired by space users today. It will not take much to bring them up to MRA standards.”
First acquired in 1962 by Rohm and Haas Company, the property first emerged as the Spring House Technical Center, an advanced research and development campus, before it was taken over by The Dow Company in 2012. MRA Group, founded in 1991, specializes real estate solutions for health care and institutional organizations and redevelopment of large, multi-building properties.
