Gladwyne Village Redevelopment: Where Each Plan Stands

Gladwyne Market closed at the end of October 2025, after more than a century of shopkeeping at the corner of Righters Mill and Youngs Ford Roads. Nearly a year later, the plan to rebuild the village is moving forward in a particular order. The two existing storefronts are in formal historic review. The pieces that would change how the village center works, from parking to the gathering space to Homeroom's building, have not yet reached a township agenda.

That order matters if you walk to the library, park outside the pharmacy, or live on Youngs Ford Road. The parts of the plan furthest along are the least disputed. The parts still on paper are the ones neighbors have argued about since January.

How the Corner Changed Hands

The current chapter began with two purchases. According to property records cited by the Inquirer, RMR Property Holdings bought the market building in April 2025 for $5 million. In June 2025 it bought the neighboring parcel at 358 Righters Mill Road, home to Homeroom and Gladwyne Pharmacy, for $10.25 million. RMR's mailing address on those records matches the Bryn Mawr address registered to Haldon House, the design firm owned by Andre Golsorkhi and Autumn Oser.

Pete Liccio had run the market since 2009 and called it "15 hard years." He told the Inquirer the new owners asked the business to vacate. Its roughly 11 employees moved to the Market of Lafayette Hill, another Liccio family store. At the time, Michael Daly, president of the Gladwyne Civic Association, said the community was "very much in trust-but-verify mode."

Henry Morgan, the chef behind Homeroom, said then that the café remained open and that he had had "nothing but positive communication with the new owners." That still describes the corner today. Homeroom serves its seasonal breakfast and lunch from the same building, and the pharmacy is still trading.

Two Plans, Five Months Apart

The developers, working with Jeff and Janine Yass, presented their first concept in January 2026 under the name "Gladwyne Square." It called for a stand-alone Homeroom and a separate new retail building, with possible tenants including a bakery, a treat shop, a fitness studio and a barber. The pharmacy would have moved into the former OMG Hair Salon, and a new restaurant would have taken the old market.

At a Gladwyne Civic Association meeting on May 18, Haldon House presented a pared-back version that answered most of the January feedback.

The new tenants were dropped because, according to the developers, Gladwyne's needs could be met by expanding the businesses already there. The design brief changed along the same lines. At the civic meeting, Oser described what residents had asked for:

"Please keep the quirk. Gladwyne is quirky, and it's eclectic, and we like that."

The restaurant planned for 351 Righters Mill reflects that brief. Oser described a "watering hole" with historic photographs and a "timeless" interior. She said the team does not plan to recruit a restaurant from Philadelphia. Today, the only full-service restaurant in the commercial core is the Union League's Guard House, which is open to members only.

The Easier Buildings Went First

The two buildings that would be renovated rather than replaced were the first to reach formal review. On July 7, Lower Merion's Historical Architectural Review Board took up case 26-08 and case 26-09 together. Case 26-08 covers a second-floor rear addition and a reworked ADA entrance at 351 Righters Mill. Case 26-09 covers a larger rear section and a rebuilt front porch, based on historic precedent, at 357-359 Righters Mill. Both applications asked only for a recommendation on massing and design, with materials and other details to come later.

The meeting minutes name the team. Golsorkhi attended for Haldon House, along with architect Adam Montalbano of Moto Design Shop and preservation consultants Kathryn Brown and Erika Craparo of Stone House Lane Design. Brown said the work would follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards. Board members asked how the addition to 357-359 would look from Youngs Ford Road. The board then tabled both applications, stating that it was "generally in support of what was presented and looks forward to receiving additional details."

The board skipped its September meeting. The next step is tomorrow, October 6, at 8:15 a.m. in the Township Administration Building at 75 East Lancaster Avenue in Ardmore. Case 26-09 returns for a recommendation on its land development aspects only. Case 26-08 is not on that agenda. The township posts the application materials and its consultant's preliminary comments with the meeting notice, so anyone can read the drawings before the board does.

The Pieces That Haven't Been Filed

The rest of the plan is a different matter. Earlier this year the review board looked informally at 358 Righters Mill and the land development plan, and its May agenda stated that no formal recommendation would result. Through early October, no township agenda reviewed for this post includes the Homeroom barn, the village green or the Youngs Ford Road lot.

Those three pieces depend on each other. The village green, planned with accessible paths, a gazebo and a water feature referencing Gladwyne's equestrian history, would replace much of the corner's current parking. That parking would move to a new lot at 946 Youngs Ford Road, where a house would be razed. The lot needs a zoning change, and the Board of Commissioners has the final say on the project as a whole.

Most of the public debate has focused on these pieces. Two residents asked the team to rethink the lot because of the views and privacy they would lose. A neighbor asked whether the lot could hold enough cars for Homeroom, the restaurant, the green and the pharmacy. A critic of the first plan said the revision was "going in the right direction." The critic also said traffic, pedestrian access and trees had to be "solved at the beginning."

The traffic question has a seasonal angle. In May, Golsorkhi told Savvy Main Line that traffic studies were underway and would be shared publicly. Residents at the meeting warned that a study done between Memorial Day and Labor Day, when the village is quieter, would be useless. That same month, Golsorkhi predicted ground would not be broken until "next spring," a forecast he gave before any part of the plan had been formally submitted.

Homeroom's Building Is the Last Big Question

For daily routines, the most important piece is also the least settled. Under the May plan, Homeroom would take the entire ground floor of the new barn, and its hours could run into the late afternoon or early evening, with a larger bakery operation. The building would combine stone facades, wood paneling and floor-to-ceiling windows. Oser told the civic meeting that the team no longer wants to "create a false history" by copying the historic buildings around it.

That building would replace the Walter Durham-designed structure that Homeroom and the pharmacy share today. Golsorkhi has suggested Homeroom might move temporarily into the future restaurant building at 351 Righters Mill during construction. That idea helps explain why 351 matters beyond the restaurant itself. It remains a suggestion, not an announced plan.

Meanwhile, the library next door is busy this month. Gladwyne Library at 362 Righters Mill Road holds an adult quilt-block workshop, open-play Mah Jongg and a teen button-making session on October 6, and a Halloween Crafternoon on October 7. On Saturday, October 10, from 1 to 2 p.m., it hosts a Craftivism event with author Ali Terese, who will discuss Free Period. The developers want the planned green to host outdoor education, library events and yoga. They also say a fund drawing on revenue from the properties would pay for its upkeep, so tenants would not carry that cost.

The project's own website still says only that the team is "hard at work" and will share updates. For now, the clearest public record is the township's review board calendar, and tomorrow's agenda includes only the old market building.

For homeowners near the Righters Mill and Youngs Ford crossroads who want to understand how each stage of the Gladwyne Village review could affect their own property and timing, Black Label Keller Williams offers a discreet conversation. Request a Private Consultation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.