Wawa's home has some pricey dwellings, some townhouses

One in a continuing series spotlighting real estate markets in the region's communities.

It had been 40 years since Gloriann Ellis bought the house in Chester Heights, one of six on a tiny cul-de-sac in this Delaware County borough.

"Sure, things have changed," said the Weichert Realtors agent. "When I moved here, there was a corner store and a butcher shop, but they're long gone."

Part of Wawa, which means wild goose in a Native American language, lies within Chester Heights, as does "Red Roof," the corporate headquarters of that convenience-store chain, the region's largest.

The Wood family, whose ancestor, George, moved here in the late 19th century and started the Wawa Dairy Farm, still has large land holdings in the borough and adjacent Middletown Township, Ellis says.

Wawa's corporate HQ, which employs about 300, provides Chester Heights with much of its local services tax revenue.

The company also donated three acres for more parking at the Wawa SEPTA station on the Media-Elwyn Line, anticipating the resumption of train service - perhaps in 2020 - that was suspended in 1986 because of poor track conditions and other concerns.

At one time, one-acre and one-half-acre zoning limited residential construction in Chester Heights to single-family detached homes, but in recent years, more and more townhouses have been proposed, Ellis says.

"Since the 2010 census, construction of 160 townhouses has been proposed, but only 77 are being built so far," says Ellis - at Brookfield at Chester Heights, developed by Valleybrook Homes LLC on a 19-acre portion of the Methodist camp-meeting property on Valleybrook Road.

"There are cabins on the camp-meeting property," which is still used in the summer, she says, "but there was never any public water or sewer."

"Kids were getting into those cabins and were starting fires," Ellis says. The repairs were so costly that the camp meeting sold the front portion of its property to Valleybrook Homes, "and now the cabins have public water and sewer," she notes.

One of the principals in Valleybrook Homes, S.B. Conrad, has proposed turning the vacant Chester Heights Market property at Smithbridge and Valleybrook Roads, across from Brookfield, into a restaurant and bakery. But the plan has been delayed for review by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

That site, too, has a septic system, which, she says, "was OK for a couple of butcher-shop employees but not for a restaurant/bakery."

The delay in the townhouses' construction was partly the result of the economy and the real estate downturn, but also "because it took time to obtain variances and change zoning rules," she says.

Chester Heights is part of what Ellis calls the "very desirable" Garnet Valley School District, along with Bethel and Concord Townships.

The district is "so much in demand" that finding houses under $400,000 is a challenge, she says, adding that Brookfield fits the bill with prices starting just under that.

Homes in Bethel and Concord are generally newer than those in Chester Heights, Ellis says, with the higher-end houses "selling in the $500,000s and $600,000s."

Chester Heights' homes average in the $500,000s, she says, but "if you are looking at a 10-year-old house vs. a 20-year-old one, the 10-year-old will sell for more."

"Houses on Wawa Road are the most expensive because they come with a lot of ground," Ellis says.

Hamanassett Bed & Breakfast on Indian Springs Drive, built in 1856 and with 10 bedrooms, is on the market for $1.6 million, she says.

Also among the 16 active listings are three townhouses at Brookfield, and another million-dollar-plus home on Darlington Road, Ellis says.

There was a time, not so long ago, when houses rarely came on the market in this tiny community because once they were for sale, "they were usually sold by word of mouth and very quickly," she says.

"This is a sleeper town," Ellis says, from which most people commute to King of Prussia and Philadelphia or to the banks in northern Delaware.

"It is almost like South Philadelphia," she says, "a place where people tend to stay forever."

aheavens@phillynews.com

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@alheavens