By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer

Kennett Square Mayor Matt Fetick has organized a livestream Q&A session for Wednesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. with the developers of the Genesis buildings. The livestream will allow community members to hear directly from the building developers, 9th Street Development Company, on their plans for the buildings, and to ask questions. 

The two Genesis buildings, located at 101 E. State Street and 128 E. State Street, served as corporate headquarters for Genesis HealthCare which ran assisted living facilities nationwide before declaring bankruptcy in 2025. The new proposed uses of the buildings by 9th Street Development Company include retail use on the first floors with office space, medical office space and apartments planned for the 101 building and office space and apartments planned for the 128 building. 

While the plans are not set in stone, Fetick explained that he believes the current plans are “by right,” meaning the planned development in the buildings does not require any zoning or ordinance changes. Fetick added that development is currently slated to begin mid-summer. 

One issue that Fetick suspects to be of relevance to the public during the Q&A session is the issue of parking for the buildings. He explained that each use in the buildings, an office or apartments for example, requires a certain number of parking spaces that would need to be bought from the borough parking garage. 

“A medical office, based on the number of square feet, has to have so many parking spaces,”  Fetick said. “A restaurant has to have so many parking spaces, an apartment has to have so many parking spaces. So the use determines what type of or how much space they need. So, for them to meet their zoning requirements, they have to provide those parking spaces in the borough parking garage and purchase those at market rate from the borough.”

Fetick added that those spaces would be purchased from the borough on an annual basis, just as Genesis did for its employees.

Any concerns or questions the public may have about the planned development including issues of parking can be asked at the livestream event. Fetick shared that the livestream is the second event of its kind in what he is calling a “community chat initiative.” The first was a phorid fly Q&A livestream.

“My goal is to offer a livestream opportunity at least every other month on a topic that's of relevance to the town,” Fetick said. “Borough council meetings are not designed for a significant amount of back and forth. The council meetings are designed for the council to do their work and for the public to provide input or comments but it's not really designed to be collaborative.”

By providing a space for that back and forth dialogue, Fetick hopes community members will have their voices heard and questions answered.

“I wanted to give folks an opportunity where they don't have to leave home, they don't have to go out, but they can participate online from wherever they are and be able to just ask questions and get responses from the builders and to share anything that they would like to be able to share,” he said. 

As much as this livestream is an opportunity for the community, it is also an opportunity for the developers to gain insight into their project. 

“It's an opportunity for them to directly speak to the residents and answer their concerns,” Fetick said. “If there are concerns that they need to address or that they want to address, they can start backing that into their plan and I think that's the important part.”

The livestream link is available on the borough website calendar. However, for those unable to make it, the stream will be uploaded to the borough website to watch at a later time.