The Greenhill Apartment/Condos Were Built In 1964 – After Neighbors Fought Bitterly to Stop The Construction
Harry K. Madway was a Jew from Merion. He made a lot of money building apartment houses.
Marguerite Wood MacCoy was a WASP socialite who owned 22 acres of land along City Line Avenue, near Lancaster Avenue.
The Greenhill Condominiums now stand on what once was called The MacCoy Tract.
Previously, the MacCoy Tract was part of a larger parcel of land which became known in 1694 as the Greenhill Tract. Members of MacCoy’s family owned the Greenhill Tract, even before the Revolutionary War. She was also a desendant of Dr. Thomas Wynne, after whom Wynnewood is named. In other words, Marguerite Wood MacCoy was a blueblood.
It’s highly unlikely that Harry Madway and Marguerite Wood MacCoy would have travelled in the same social circles, but in 1954, somebody must have made a shidduch. That’s when the two of them struck a deal for Madway to lease the MacCoy Tract from her.
The whole idea of the lease arrangement was for Madway to build a large, highrise apartment complex on the MacCoy Tract.
The only problem was that the MacCoy Tract wasn’t zoned for the 4-building, 490 unit apartment project that Harry and Marguerite envisioned.
And would you believe it – a bunch of folks in Penn Wynne were not too eager to see this thing get built. They “discouraged” the Township Commissioners from changing the zoning for the benefit of MacCoy and Madway.
And the commisioners obliged, at least in 1954 they did. They said “nothing doing” to MacCoy and Madway’s requested zoning change.
But the following year the commissioners reversed themselves and approved the zoning change. So the coast was clear for the construction of the big apartment complex.
Except the Penn Wynne Civic Association, represented by Perrin Hamilton, sued the commissioners.
Development of the MacCoy Tract was stopped cold until 1957, when the Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that the commissioners’ 1955 rezoning (which allowed for the apartment complex to be built) should stand.
But there was a recession in 1957-1958, and Madway couldn’t get financing for his project.
Then late in 1961, Madway submitted a plan to the township for his high-rise apartment, and almost immediately, several commissioners expressed support for the idea of “up-zoning” the MacCoy Tract.
11 of the 14 commissioners would have to vote to “up-zone” the MacCoy Tract back to its pre-1955 status, or the change they implemented previously would stand, and Madway’s project could move forward. On April 18, 1962, they voted, and “the up-zoners” could only muster nine votes.
By January of 1964, prospective residents could visit sample apartments at the Green Hill. And through the first few months of that year, with the help of a robust newspaper advertising campaign, The Green Hill quickly filled up with tenants.
For the next 16 years, or so (with the exception of periodic mentions in the obituary section), The Green Hill Apartments stayed out of the news.
January 1981, Conversion to Condo
On January 9, 1981, the Inquirer reported that Madway Engineering and Constructors, had sold the Green Hill Apartments to Green Hill Venture, a Chicago investment group.
On the same day, Green Hill Venture posted the required legal advertisement advising the residents of a tenants’ meeting to be held on January 14, at the Marriott on City Line Avenue.
February 1981, Renters Push Back
May 1981, Renters Lose In Court
April 1981, Even Before the Court Ruling – A Full-page Ad Promoting the “New” Greenhill
