Apartments, a coffee shop, and an art store may be coming to downtown Kennett Square, opening up what was once only office space
A Delaware-based developer is acquiring two properties on State Street, adding apartments and retail.
New apartments, a coffee shop, an arts and crafts store, and more office space are slated for Kennett Square next year, after a Delaware-based developer acquires two properties downtown.
The developer, 9th Street Development Company, recently announced it will acquire 128 E. State St. and 101 E. State St., in the heart of Kennett Square’s retail district, to “reinvigorate” the buildings that have for years served as only office space.
“We want to convert both ground floors into retail use to really engage with East State Street, which is a very walkable, beautiful street,” said Robert Herrera, who oversees active development projects and architectural design for 9SDC. “Our hope is that we can reinvigorate and add some life into these so that these small businesses actually feel the impact.”
The developer is purchasing the properties from Genesis HealthCare, a company that provides nursing and assisted senior living facilities. Genesis has used the properties entirely for offices; the company filed for bankruptcy in 2025.
The two buildings total about 180,000 square feet, and Herrera estimates they’ll spend roughly $40 million on the project. He expects to finalize the acquisition in the next two months.
“We’re all patrons of the downtown there, so we’re fans. We’ve been tracking these buildings since 2021 — there’s been a lot of movement around them — and we’ve just been curiously watching at a distance,” Herrera said. “It just kind of landed where we had an opportunity to step in here and redevelop them.”
The plan is to develop 128 E. State St., a five-story building, into 60 high-end apartments, ranging from one to three bedrooms. The ground floor will offer retail space, and two businesses have already snapped up available square footage.
Mayday Coffee, a West Chester-based coffee shop, has signed on to lease a spot in the building, alongside Tinker, an arts and crafts spot. Tinker is run by local business owners who run Mrs. Robinson’s Tea Shop, which is across the street. More floor space is still available for other businesses.
“I think it’s going to be a great win,” Herrera said.
The apartment building will offer a fitness center, a coworking space, a billiards room, and a TV lounge space. Herrera estimates that it will take roughly 14 months to renovate the former office space into apartments, with a plan to have the two committed retail spots opening in a similar timeframe.
Over at 101 E. State St., just a few hundred feet away, Herrera said they plan to convert the lower floor to commercial retail space. The upper levels of the three-story building will remain office space, holding multiple tenants. They’ll focus on both medical office use and typical office use. That office space will come with a fitness center, and a shared boardroom.
A small market for food or drinks, run by a local shop, may also be on offer to only the office’s tenants, but that’s still being worked out, Herrera said. Genesis will lease roughly 5,000 square feet, Herrera said.
Construction for that project will be completed in about six months, he said.
“There’s not going to be another opportunity for office space this close to the heart of Kennett Square,” he said. “We’re excited by both the challenge and the responsibility of having these buildings that are key to the whole downtown core of Kennett Square.”
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