Sanatoga Green Project Making Progress

This aerial photo shows the proposed Sanatoga Green mixed use residential, office and hotel complex super-imposed on the property it may soon occupy.

The proposed 508-residential unit; 6,000 square-foot of office space and 100-room hotel project proposed for 51 acres near the Limerick outlets continued to win approvals Tuesday night.

First there was the public hearing that proposed to add one more parcel to the "gateway zoning" district required for the proposed Sanatoga Green project to move forward.

Only the developers spoke and, not surprisingly, talked about the benefits of the change. It was subsequently approved unanimously by the township commissioners without comment.

Then came the news that the Commonwealth Finance Authority has approved $2.1 million in financing to upgrade the west-bound Sanatoga Interchange off Route 422.

The application was driven by the outlets located off Evergreen Road in Limerick, but was made jointly by Limerick and Lower Pottsgrove. There is a 30 percent match required for the $3 million upgrade and Lower Pottsgrove is responsible for 35 percent of that 30 percent match, said Township Manager Ed Wagner.

However, Wagner said both township's also applied for a grant from PennDOT, which may provide the whole match.

The financing is good news for the development of Sanatoga Green because without the capacity increases the upgrade will ensure, that project would not move forward.

Wagner explained that the upgrade to the west-side of the interchange will cost $5.5 million or more, but is less crucial because less local traffic comes from that direction.

It may be a year or more before either the interchange project, or the Sanatoga Green project, breaks ground.

In the meantime, another public hearing for the Sanatoga Green project -- this one for a "conditional use" to allow for construction on steep slopes -- has been set for 6:30 on Thursday, July 21.

And here are the Tweets from the meeting: