Collingdale Is the Sleeper Pick Every Philadelphia Investor Should Watch Right Now

Collingdale, a 1.3-square-mile borough tucked against the SEPTA Media/Wawa line in Delaware County, is about to get a second look from the development community. Delaware County's Planning Department submitted a formal rezoning proposal to Collingdale Borough Council on June 18, recommending that roughly 40 acres along MacDade Boulevard be reclassified from single-family residential to mixed-use corridor zoning—a designation that would permit four-story residential buildings above ground-floor retail for the first time in the borough's history.

The timing matters. Philadelphia proper has spent the past two years watching its own Zoning Board of Adjustment process grind under a backlog of nearly 900 pending variance applications, according to city data from the Philadelphia City Planning Commission's March 2026 report. Developers priced out of Fishtown, Kensington, and the lower stretches of Germantown Avenue have been moving their spreadsheets outward along the transit lines. Collingdale, which sits 10 miles southwest of Center City and offers a Septa Media/Wawa Rail stop at the borough's eastern edge, is suddenly a logical next move.

Median row-home prices in Collingdale sat at approximately $178,000 in the first quarter of 2026, according to figures compiled by the Delaware County Association of Realtors—roughly 58 percent below the Philadelphia citywide median of around $265,000. That spread is historically wide. In comparable moments along the Route 100 corridor in Montgomery County, land prices jumped 22 percent within 18 months of a rezoning approval. If the MacDade Boulevard proposal clears its public hearing—currently scheduled for August 12 at Collingdale Borough Hall on MacDade Boulevard—the math for small developers becomes compelling fast.

What MacDade Boulevard Rezoning Would Actually Change

The corridor in question runs about six blocks through the commercial heart of the borough, anchored at one end by the longtime Collingdale Shopping Center and at the other by Veterans Square, a small park that borders the SEPTA right-of-way. Under current zoning, the most a landlord can do with a vacant storefront is operate retail on the ground floor with limited storage above. The proposed mixed-use designation changes that calculus entirely. A developer could assemble two or three adjacent parcels—many of which list for under $200,000—and put 20 to 30 rental units above street-level commercial space.

Delaware County has earmarked $1.2 million from its American Rescue Plan Act allocations specifically for infrastructure improvements along the MacDade corridor, covering water main upgrades and pedestrian crosswalk improvements near the Collingdale Station platform. That money is already obligated and must be spent by September 30, 2026, meaning the groundwork for development is being laid regardless of what happens to the rezoning proposal. The county's Department of Economic Development confirmed the infrastructure timeline in a May 2026 public budget document.

The Risk Investors Should Understand

None of this is guaranteed. Borough council has three members who have publicly expressed concern about traffic volume on MacDade Boulevard, and the August 12 hearing will draw residents from the immediate neighborhood who prefer the status quo. Collingdale has voted down zoning amendments twice before—in 2009 and again in 2017—though the difference now is the county's financial stake and the explicit backing of Delaware County Executive Monica Taylor, whose office formally endorsed the mixed-use framework in April.

For buyers thinking about getting ahead of the approval, the practical window is narrow. Parcels near the Collingdale Station stop—particularly the cluster between Clifton Avenue and Weymouth Road—are already drawing interest from Philadelphia-based investors who follow the county planning calendar. A duplex at the corner of MacDade and Harris Street sold in May for $196,000, about $30,000 above its November 2025 appraisal. That kind of spread doesn't happen in a static market.

If council approves the rezoning this fall, expect Delaware County's permitting office in Media to see a surge in applications by early 2027. Investors who wait for that confirmation will be competing on price. Those who read the June 18 proposal and move before the August hearing won't be.