Plans to redevelop a 12.5 acre lot in the area of the I-95, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, in the Levittown section of Bristol Township have fallen through, officials exclusively told Lower Bucks Source last week.
Originally approved by the Zoning Board in January of 2023, Developer DCD Capital LLC of Bound Brook, New Jersey sought to turn the site that’s been vacant for at least 11 years into a upscale hotel, storage facility, and coffee shop. At the time of zoning approval, the proposed on-site international coffee chain was thought to be Starbucks, township officials confirmed those reports last week.
The coffee shop corporation revolutionized the way one of America’s favorite beverages is sold and packaged under the leadership of Howard Schultz who—after a business trip to Milan, Italy—decided to convert the coffee bean store into a coffee shop serving espresso-based drinks during his first tenure as chief executive officer from 1986 to 2000, industry experts say.
Council President Craig Bowen confirmed Starbucks was in fact the coffee shop expected to become an important asset and attraction for the site and its development.
Starbucks pulling out of the developers plans is what nixed the plan, Bowen said.
“They were in when the plan was originally presented last year,” he said, “then they withdrew once a new regional director was selected in late 2023 year, they withdrew for a second and final time,” he said.
Bowen isn’t one to express frustration in public or on calls with reporters but that was the impression left during the call.
This isn’t the first time the township was left at the altar, so to speak, there was a promising partnership beckoning with Royal Farms, Bowen said.
The company’s interest and plans to develop the location started in 2016. Plans were put on hold due to disagreements with PennDOT in 2017, Bowen said.
Once called an “eyesore” by locals, the township has at times invested time and effort to ensure the site was taken care of and looked kept.
Calls to Starbucks Corporations regional offices last week went unreturned as of publication time.
Credit: Joann Ames Lower Bucks Source