Hankin Group is working on its latest apartment project in the Downingtown-Exton area and plans to have it open for occupancy in August.
Hankin Apartments, headquartered in Exton, is developing Keva Flats, a 21-acre, five-building community that will have 240 units on Business Route 30 just west of Route 100, between Whiteland Towne Center and Otto’s Mini car dealership.
The styling of the new apartments “blends natural materials with floor to ceiling windows, bold angles and open floorplans,” the company announced in a recent statement updating the project.
In addition, the apartments will feature modern finishes such as quartz counters, tile back splashes, plank flooring and Grohe faucets.
Designed by the international architectural firm Norr, Keva Flats will mix one- and two-bedroom units and will include covered parking. The project’s final price tag will be about $60 million. The buildings will be four stories over parking areas.
Michael Hankin, chief operating officer, and Rebecca D. Reeves, vice president of operations at Hankin Apartments, said the development will be walkable.
A sidewalk will go along Lincoln Highway to connect Keva Flats to the Whiteland Town Center. There will also be a sidewalk along Waterloo Boulevard to meet up with Miller Park. Eventually, the developers hope to link the sidewalks to the Chester County trail system.
Millennials and residents moving from single-family homes are the likely market for the apartments that will rent for $1.365 to $2,450 a month, Hankin and Reeves said in an interview last week.
The apartment market in the Exton area is hot right now but, Hankin pointed out, “we’re first in line.”
“It’s a real shift in living preferences,” Hankin said of the trend toward apartments. Millennials with added school loan debt aren’t ready to invest in housing as early as preceding generations, while many Baby Boomers are interested in getting away from home ownership maintenance responsibilities, he noted.
There are 1,000 rental units expected to go online in the Exton-Downingtown area in the next five years, Reeves said.
Another reason for the popularity of apartments?
“There’s not as much of a supply in Chester County of affordable new houses,” said Hankin.
Keva Flats will include a clubhouse with a coffee bar, business lounge and a multi-sport simulator. It also will have a fitness center and yoga studio, a private dining room, a club room with demo kitchen and a rooftop terrace with fire pits, grill and seating. There is a sport court that offers basketball, tennis and volleyball. Adjacent to the sport court will be an outdoor pool with grilling stations. Dogs will be welcome, too, the developers said.
“This is an exciting project for us,” Reeves said. “At Keva Flats, our goal is to develop a sense of place and simplify life.”
The Hankin Group is also busy in nearby Downingtown. It has acquired 68 acres at the intersection of Boot Road and Route 322 (Brandywine Avenue) on the former Sonoco property. It plans to build 442 apartments atop 14,200 square feet of retail space there.
The approved conditional use application for that development includes a mixed-use transit oriented development at the site of what officials hope will be the new Downingtown Amtrak/SEPTA Train Station, according to a recent report in the Daily Local News.