Lower Merion residents will have an opportunity at a meeting Thursday night to learn more about a long-awaited development coming to downtown Ardmore.
The Piazza development is a mixed-use residential and retail project set to bring 270 apartments, nearly 30,000 square feet of retail space, and around 480 parking spaces to Ardmore’s main commercial strip. The development will stretch along Lancaster Avenue from Greenfield Avenue to Ardmore Avenue, replacing two car dealerships, a shuttered IHOP restaurant, and several vacant lots.
Lower Merion Township will host a community discussion with developer Radnor Property Group at 6 p.m. Thursday at the township administration building on Lancaster Avenue.
Piazza’s plans
The Piazza project, approved in 2021, has been in the works for years, changing shape amid shifting economic conditions.
The 3.5-acre tract of land along Lancaster Avenue is owned by VMDT Partnership, an affiliate of Piazza Auto Group, the King of Prussia-based car dealer that owns the two dealerships currently on the block.
Piazza initially partnered with Toll Bros., a Fort Washington-based megadeveloper, in 2019. However, the partnership ended in 2024 due to “market conditions” with “the pandemic and costs increasing,” a representative for Piazza Auto Group’s owners said at the time.
Plans for the five-story development were submitted before Lower Merion adopted a 2019 ordinance limiting most buildings to three stories, exempting the Piazza project.
The Piazza development will include street-level retail, apartments, and parking for both residents and shoppers.
Though the overarching concept of the project has stayed the same, financial headwinds have limited some initial objectives, like putting a grocery store at Lancaster and Greenfield Avenues. A grocery store would have required two levels of underground parking, a financial undertaking that has become nearly impossible with rising interest rates, said Chris Leswing, Lower Merion’s director of building and planning.
Instead, developers plan to bring a dining option, like a cafe, that would require less parking. A cafe, Leswing said, would help replace the now-closed IHOP, which he described as a beloved gathering place for some residents.
Given that the development has already been approved, Leswing is clear that Thursday’s meeting is “not a referendum on the project by any means.”
Rather, it’s an opportunity to meet the developers, ask questions, and make connections.
The developers are planning to break ground after Thanksgiving. Construction is anticipated to take two years.
‘Big changes’ in Ardmore
The Piazza project is part of a string of developments that have transformed Ardmore in recent years, lifting its business district out of a period of economic downturn and adding hundreds of new apartment units.
Advocates have praised Ardmore’s growing supply of walkable, transit-oriented housing and shopping, including projects like Cricket Flats and One Ardmore.
“It’s another big piece in all of the changes that have been coming to Ardmore in the past five to 10 years,” said Alec Hersh, executive director of the Ardmore Initiative, the community’s business improvement district.
According to township planning staff, the Piazza project will align with local and regional development goals, including the county’s Montco 2040 Comprehensive Plan and Lower Merion’s 2016 plan, which outline a need for vibrant mixed-use residential and retail developments in Lower Merion’s historic commercial corridors.
The Piazza project will be “an anchor to the business district,” Leswing said.
Lower Merion’s changing landscape has not emerged without pushback.
Some have described a disappearance of “small town” culture, while others have raised concerns about increased traffic, overcrowded schools, and gentrification. Developers of One Ardmore, a 110-unit apartment complex on Cricket Avenue, welcomed tenants only after winning a decade-long legal battle with residents.
» READ MORE: Is Ardmore the Fishtown of the Main Line?
Leswing said the township “really sweated the approval” for the Piazza project, making sure the streetscape would add to, not detract from, Ardmore’s charm. The project will include numerous pedestrian crossings and the extension of West Athens Avenue to Greenfield Avenue to improve connectivity.
Hersh said the Ardmore Initiative has worked closely with the Radnor Property Group to communicate what residents want from their public spaces. Top concerns are parking, traffic, and a desire for “third spaces” where people can connect with their neighbors outside work or the home.
Getting the developer to set aside over 100 parking spaces for public use was “a big victory for the business community,” Hersh said.
The Ardmore Initiative also worked with the developer to route traffic toward the back of the development and away from Lancaster Avenue, limiting backups on the main road.
Hersh said he hopes the Piazza project will bridge the yearslong connectivity challenge between Haverford College and downtown Ardmore. That commute will be improved with new landscaping, sidewalks, and pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, he said.