Fence around embattled Turkey Hill project gone
The temporary fencing around the stalled Turkey Hill construction project at Sixth and Chestnut streets in Emmaushas been removed, leaving borough residents to wonder what’s happening.
Borough Manager Shane Pepe said the borough’s code office contacted Turkey Hill officials, who said they are reviewing pricing for 10-foottall permanent fencing to be placed around the property.
The site is wide open and littered with piles of construction rubble and abandoned building materials on a prominent thoroughfare in the borough.
According to Pepe, Turkey Hill officials said they would install the fence as soon as possible and keep it in place until construction resumes.
The borough learned in early February that the project — which would create an expanded Turkey Hill convenience store including a drive-thru, a market building and additional space at the gas pumps — had come to a halt until construction material pricing eased.
Under the Pennsylvania Uniform Construction Code, which regulates building projects in the state, the Turkey Hill project has 180 days to restart — roughly until August.
Pepe said the borough sent the company a letter Feb. 2 notifying them of the 180-day clock. Should it fail to meet that deadline, Pepe said, the borough could rescind all the permits and order that the property be cleared.
An email to the project developer’s attorney, Thomas J. MacNeeley, was not returned.
The project has been plagued with issues throughout its nearly two-year history. Turkey Hill Mini Markets, which had a store and gas station at 602 Chestnut St. for years, bought the adjacent property at 610 Chestnut St. in July 2021. THMini Markets then submitted development plans for the expanded convenience store. The project made its way through the approval process and workers demolished and cleared 602 and 610 Chestnut.
Before it was acquired by
EG America, Turkey Hill Mini Markets apparently had had a “handshake” deal with the previous owner of 602 Chestnut St., who then died. Then ownership of TH Mini Markets changed.
Negotiations put the project back for months until a sale agreement was reached and the project got underway late last year. Little work was done at the site before the project again halted due to the cost of construction materials.
Construction costs are an issue across the country, thanks to a combination of factors including a sharp spike in demand, inflation, supply chain disruptions, ongoing labor shortages and the war in Ukraine. Last year saw a more than 14% spike in costs, according to CBRE Group, a Dallas company that’s one of the world’s largest commercial real estate and investments firms.