Redevelopment means last rack for Drexeline billiards club
UPPER DARBY » In a unanimous vote held recently Upper Darby Township Council granted final approval for the Drexeline Redevelopment Project to move ahead.
Phase 1 of the development, located on State Road at Township Line Road is scheduled to begin in April and includes a new 72,000 square foot ShopRite,
14,000 square feet of retail space and a new Wawa, all expected to open in the fall of 2022 pending additional state and federal approval.
An existing PNC bank branch will be renovated with an additional 6,400 square feet along State Road.
The final phase of the project is slated to begin in the fall of 2022 and will include a new marketrate, multi-family residential building and multi-use trail along the Darby Creek, as well as a new self-storage facility. The project should be fully completed in mid2024.
MCB Real Estate, based in Maryland, purchased the property in 2016 and appeared before the zoning board in 2018 for variances.
“Drexeline is Upper Darby’s largest redevelopment project in 25 years, and it will be of tremendous benefit to the community,” said Mayor Barbarann Keffer in a press release. “I thank township council for their support in proceeding with the plans, and we are looking forward to what will be created by this project, including new jobs, improved roads, and an enhanced hub for public transit.”
Keffer said the development will help bring the community together through its mixed use space while also alleviating traffic congestion, providing more off-street parking and improving storm water management.
P. David Bramble, cofounder and managing partner of MCB Real Estate, thanked Keffer and her staff.
“MCB and our partners at the Hampshire Companies look forward to continuing our close working relationship with Upper Darby as we move our focus to leasing the 20,000 square-feet of retail shop space,” he said. “We are more than excited to start construction on what will be a staple within this community for decades to come.”
While the project is an improvement for the township, it means change for Bob Maidhof and his billiard hall, which is the last remaining business in the old strip mall. The Drexeline Billiard Club, which Maidhof opened in 1989, is hidden at the rear of the property, unknown to most of the thousands of cars that pass by each day.
The club is extremely popular with many. On a recent afternoon, 20 or more customers were chalking cues and running the tables.
“This has been a real special place to a lot of people. We’ll try to find someplace else and make it just as special,” said Maidhof. “At any given time, we had the best players in the world here -