At its March 18th meeting, the Bristol Township School District Board of Directors approved a letter of intent to sell the now vacant FDR Middle School property to Crystal Window and Door Systems.
The FDR location has been vacant since last March, when the middle school community moved to the newly renovated and revitalized Ben Franklin Middle School.
The Board brought on commercial real estate broker NAI Mertz to assist it in the selling of the FDR property.
“NAI Mertz put out a wide net to garner significant interest in the property, and provide the Board with interesting and viable options for the sale of the property,” Board President James Morgan commented.
“Throughout the process, the Board was not only focused on doing what was best for the school district, but also what would be most beneficial for the Bristol Township community.” Board Vice President Kellie Buchanan stated.
With over 30 years of operation, Crystal Window has grown from a startup in 1990 to one of the top 25 window manufacturers in North America. The company intends to use the property for a light manufacturing and assembly building.
In addition to generating 300 job opportunities in Bristol Township, a portion of the property will be used to build a community park. It will feature multi-use fields, a dog park, playground, gardens, picnic shelter with restrooms, basketball courts, tennis courts and a loop walking trail.
“Crystal is an award-winning company and we are happy to welcome them to Bristol Township,” Morgan shared. “We are excited about the creation of jobs for the community as well as utilizing the open space for a park.”
Crystal believes in giving back to the communities they are located in as well as helping out around the world. Its philanthropic support, largely through the Crystal Foundation, is directed towards education, health, and art and culture initiatives. This has included college scholarships, natural disaster relief, and much more. Additionally, Crystal prides itself on its commitment to sustainability and energy-efficiency.
“We truly believe that this is a positive development for both the Board and community, and look forward to welcoming Crystal Windows to Bristol Township,” Morgan remarked.