Four Story Hotel Proposed in Fort Washington Triangle

A four-story hotel, along with other new commercial development, could be on its way to Dresher, according to statements made at Tuesday's Upper Dublin Township Board of Commissioners meeting.

At the meeting, commissioner Rebecca Gushue told the audience that BET Investments, Inc. will present a proposal for the properties at two township meetings in September.

"The proposed commercial development includes a four-story hotel, an additional office added to the Clime House, a historic home on the site, a freestanding pharmacy, and a combination restaurant/cafe with drive-thru," Gushue said in a statement to Patch.

The proposed plot is a 9.54 acre parcel of land between Susquehanna Road and Limekiln Pike, directly west of the .

However, there will be a number of obstacles before any such plan becomes a reality.

"These plans do not conform to the current zoning," said Gushue. "They will be reviewed by our Environmental Protection Advisory Board on Tuesday, September 6 at 7:00 p.m., and our Planning Commission on Tuesday, September 20 at 7:00 p.m."

Gushue said that both meetings are open to the public, with community members welcomed to attend.

The plot of land is currently zoned residential, and owned by Toll Brothers.

At Tuesday's meeting, commissioners also gave an update to the status of Old Fort Washington Elementary School. In , the township stated that they hoped to either sell or tear down the property, which they own, as it is costing the township $18,000- $30,000 a year in maintenance costs.

According to board president Robert Pesavento, the township must wait for the ruling of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas on an archaic law that requires the building to be a school.

"We have to wait for the court's decision to allow us to divest ourselves from it," said Pesavento. "There's a restriction that it has to be a school… from you, know, 1896, or something of that nature."

Officials stated that there was no opposition submitted to the court against the township's request to have the restrictions removed.

Pesavento also offered insight into the three options the township is considering for the building in the event that the restriction is lifted.

"There's basically three options," said Pesavento. "Turn the entire building, or most of it, into some sort of residential…keep the older section [intact] and demolish the newer section [to build two new houses]…and the third option is have the entire place demolished by a purchaser, and three houses should be able to fit there."

Pesavento said that in the event of the first option, the autism group ALAW was still being considered to purchase the building, but that a lack of funding has become on obstacle.

"One of the drawbacks to the autism group is that they don't have funding, and it will be at least a year before they can get a promise of funding," said Pesavento. "So this board has to weigh that also."

In other news from the meeting, township manager Paul Leonard said that the township retained its Aa1 bond rating with Moody's, the second highest rating issued by the rating agency, below AAA.