The Philadelphia Business Journal reported on January 24th that BET Investments has acquired an office building and parking lot in Ambler for $12.8 million. The office building is located at 100 West Butler Avenue and the parking lot is directly behind the Chase bank across South Maple Street from the office building. Combined the properties are approximately 3.5 acres.

BET Investments is a real estate investment and development company based in Dresher. Locally, its properties include the Promenade at Upper Dublin, Maple Glen Shopping Center, Dresher Commons, and Spring House Plaza.

According to the article, the office building is currently fully leased with long-term leases. However, possible redevelopment in the future is mentioned.

From the article:

Markman [Michael Markman, president of BET Investments] mentioned the company’s redevelopment of 555 Dresher Road in Horsham that involved converting a 100,000-square-foot office building into a 256-unit apartment complex. The property in Ambler could eventually experience a similar transition.

“The only office buildings we would buy are potentially medical offices and well-located offices,” Markman said. “So if for some reason in the future there’s no need for office, it’s a good location to convert to multifamily and mixed use.”

Markman estimated a redevelopment into apartments and retail or other uses might not happen for 10 years. If that time does come, he said it’d likely include demolishing the existing building and starting fresh.

You can read the full article here.

Photo: Google (AroundAmbler.com added an outline of properties involved)