A 224-unit senior living facility is proposed for Radnor to help address ‘a woeful lack of senior housing’
An early proposal called for retaining the historic mansion.
A Gladwyne-based senior services organization is planning to build an independent living community on an estate in Radnor Township, a move the group says is necessary as demand for senior living services rises in the region.
Waverly Senior Services presented an early proposal to Radnor Township’s planning commission on Aug. 3 for a large senior living facility at 452 Roberts Rd., a historic estate owned by the Haverford School.
The proposal includes 208 multifamily housing units across 15 buildings, 16 twin homes, and a handful of administrative buildings, including a maintenance building and a welcome house.
Waverly Senior Services, a nonprofit organization, is in the process of purchasing the 43-acre property, which the Haverford School acquired in 2022.
Waverly operates Waverly Heights, a life care residence in Gladwyne, as well as in-home healthcare and personalized care management services.
Tom Garvin, Waverly’s president and CEO, told the Radnor planning commission that the organization is seeing “unprecedented demand” for life care facilities as baby boomers age and their housing and care needs change.
“There’s a woeful lack of senior housing across the country to serve that sort of bubble that’s coming in the population,” Garvin said.
The number of U.S. residents 65 and older grew nearly five times faster than the total population between 1920 and 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
More than 560,000 senior housing units will be needed to meet the demand for older adult housing, according to market research firm NIC MAP. Under current development rates, only 191,000 will be built.
Waverly currently serves around 365 residents, the vast majority of whom are local, Garvin said.
The Radnor site would primarily be home to independent living, with some additional care for residents who need it as they age in place. It will not be a skilled nursing facility.
Waverly representatives said they are early in the process — they will still need to finalize the land sale and secure township approval — and that it could be three to five years before shovels hit the ground. However, Garvin said, the organization felt they had to jump on the opportunity in a region where it’s difficult to find open space to develop.
“This opportunity for a piece of property that’s 43 acres, zoned institutional, in our primary market area is one we just couldn’t pass up,” he said.
The property is home to the Glencoe estate, built in 1907 for Thomas McKean Jr., and purchased by Samuel Robinson, founder of Acme Markets, in 1925, according to the Radnor Historical Society. In 1960, Robinson left the estate to Presbyterian Children’s Village, an orphanage run by a local Presbyterian group. The orphanage transitioned over time to become a residential treatment program for children with emotional and behavioral challenges, and in 2019 became Gemma Services after a merger with Silver Springs — Martin Luther School. Gemma Services is building a new campus in Plymouth Meeting.
The Haverford School purchased the property in 2022 from Gemma Services for $19.88 million and said at the time that it did not have a specific plan for the site.
Waverly’s early proposal involved retaining the historic mansion and knocking down its dormitory buildings, which are in “poor shape,” said Marc Heil, Waverly’s vice president of campus development.
Heil said any new construction would “have that Main Line flair to it” and would not be “commercial looking.”
Planning commission members expressed an openness to having the site developed, but raised concerns about the early plans.
Commission member Stephen Varenhorst called the plan “chaotic” and “random” and encouraged the organization to reconsider its approach. Lane Vines, the commission’s chair, said he hoped more of the historic property could be retained.
Residents expressed concern about increased traffic in the quiet neighborhood, stormwater management, and a potential increase in ambulance traffic, especially if an EMS station is placed on the site, a possibility.
Waverly officials said they will submit plans to the planning commission, which will issue a recommendation to the Radnor Township commissioners, who will ultimately vote on whether to approve the project. Representatives from Waverly said the organization may also seek additional zoning relief if they pursue renovations outside of the property’s institutional zoning classification, which would require a separate approval process through the zoning board.
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