134
THE COUNTY ECONOMY
PLANNING ISSUE
In this hyper-competitive
world, the county’s business
parks and employment
centers will have to evolve to
attract top-flight companies
and talent.
Jobs of County Residents
Jobs in the County
County Businesses
Downtown and Main Street Areas
Office, Industrial, and
Brownfield Areas
Retail Commercial Areas
Tourism
Agriculture and Farm
Preservation
Employment Forecasts and
Economic Trends
Office, Industrial, and Brownfield Areas
Montgomery County has a full spectrum of office and
industrial uses, representing all the different types that have
been built since the founding of the nation, from old mills
along rushing streams to large steel and chemical plants to
modern LEED-certified office buildings.
Although there are many places with employment
concentrations in the county, such as King of Prussia,
Plymouth Meeting, Fort Washington, Conshohocken, and
Horsham-Willow Grove, there are also many scattered
industrial and office uses all over the county, often in fairly
surprising locations. This broad spread of employment
areas gives county residents the opportunity to be
relatively close to their place of employment.
Since the state passed the Pennsylvania Land Recycling
Program in 1995, which reduced liability and created
alternative approaches for cleaning up a site, many of the
county’s old industrial brownfield sites have been
redeveloped. The changes created by this law are most
visible in the Conshohocken/West Conshohocken area.
What’s New
The county’s office and industrial employment centers
have continued to evolve to keep up with the times:
•
Brownfields Redevelopment
- Many brownfields
have been redeveloped, such as the reuse of the
Anchor Glass property in Royersford for
townhouses and apartments, more office and
residential development in Conshohocken, the
conversion of the Turbo Lofts in Lansdale to
condos, and the conversion of the Stoveworks in
Hatboro to apartments.
•
Changing Corporate Campuses
- Some corporate
campuses, such as Unisys, Prudential, and Pfizer,
have started allowing new tenants, encouraging a
variety of uses, and intensifying the overall
development, both to use underutilized land and to
create a more interesting work environment. Over
time, some campuses, like the Baptist Center in
Upper Merion, essentially become business parks as
new buildings and tenants are added.
•
Evolving Business Parks
- To stay competitive and
appeal to younger workers, property owners in
some business parks have advocated for allowing
more land uses, including residential, and more
intensity. Lower Merion, in the Bala Cynwyd area,
and Lower Providence, in the Valley Forge
Corporate Center, have changed their zoning to
allow their business parks to evolve.
•
Green Buildings
- Many corporations want to be in
green buildings that are energy efficient and
environmentally friendly, such as the SKF USA
Headquarters in Towamencin, the Colorcon Global
Headquarters in Lower Salford, the 125 East Elm
Office building in Conshohocken, and GAI in
Upper Merion.
Environmentally-friendly office and research facility.
