Luxury apartment development coming to West Chester: What it will include

A new luxury apartment development, The Residences at Clocktower located at The Square at Union Centre, will soon give West Chester Twp. residents a new housing option.

It will feature 326 luxury apartment homes with one-bedroom, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and two-bedroom den/study options. HILLS Properties has broken ground on the property in the past month. The first move-ins are expected in the third quarter of 2022. By the end of 2023, the project is anticipated to be fully completed.

Other features of the new luxury apartments will include under-building, secure parking, stainless-steel appliances, and LED light fixtures. Often referred to as Savoy 2.0, The Residences at Clocktower will have some similarities to Savoy, which won the National Apartment Association’s “Community of the Year” award.

“This is Savoy taken to the next level. For example, in the amenities, what Savoy doesn’t have, and this does is we have a rooftop terrace, overlooking the park, where after a night out in West Chester, you can walk home and hit the rooftop terrace for a nightcap with a bottle of wine. That’s a new feature and a new amenity and it’s going to be gorgeous,” said said Brandon Guttman, executive vice president of operations at HILLS Properties.

Another feature at The Residences at Clocktower are 10-foot ceilings. The old standard for apartments were eight-foot ceilings. More and more, nine-foot ceilings are becoming the standard.

Barb Wilson, West Chester Twp. spokeswoman, said the interest in bringing residential to what is that downtown district of the township has always been the vision for that area.

“There’s renewed interest in renting from young professionals and from empty-nesters and those that are downsizing,” Wilson said, “They want to be able to have those amenities, to be able to walk to restaurants. They want to have that walkability and be close to the action.”

She said there’s an increasing appeal for the live, work and play lifestyle.

“HILLS Properties is very excited about their proximity to The Square and participation in the events that are already successful there,” Wilson said.

“It’s really about building a community with options West Chester has really been top-of-game in these beautiful, suburban neighborhoods where you want to raise your family with great schools, where it’s safe with great police and road service, and all of that, and a wide-range of prices in terms of housing. It’s about creating an option.”

Established in 1958 by Murray Guttman, Brandon Guttman’s grandfather, HILLS Properties is a family-owned company headquartered in Cincinnati. Today, more than 60 years later, HILLS is operated by second and third generation partners.

“We build the product ourselves. We know what’s under the hood, and its quality. The approach we take is we try to put our feet in the shoes of our customers. What do they want? What’s going to make them happy? What’s going to make them not just want to rent but to stay, and we figure if we can take care of those little things, the big things will take care of themselves,” Guttman said.

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