Gratz College announced that it will depart the Mandel Education Campus in Melrose Park (7605 Old York Road) and lease a building located at 315 York Road in Jenkintown this summer.
The 3,700 sf space will support the college’s staff and provide ample space for continued community programming in the Old York Road community. The new Gratz site will add valued operations to Jenkintown’s “Piazza on the Square” mixed use development, the college said in a press release.
The agreement with Lindy Property Management Company also includes access to the adjacent “Uptown” event venue to maintain Gratz’s educational and cultural programs.
“We are thrilled to remain firmly rooted in the Old York Road community,” Gratz President Zev Eleff said. “I hope Gratz will remain an anchor and incubator of Jewish wisdom for many years to come.”
“Carolyn and I are thrilled that Gratz College will be at The Piazza on the Square, our corporate office for Lindy Communities,” said Alan Lindy of Lindy Property Management Company. “Gratz College will enhance the vitality of Jenkintown, and especially the Center of Jenkintown. As long-term supporters of Gratz College, we are especially gratified that Gratz is joining The Piazza.”
The move to Jenkintown is a multiphase project, school officials said, with a long-term goal to broaden the use of the space as a convener site for local Jewish nonprofits. The college is in early discussions with congregations and Jewish agencies on how to cultivate potential synergies and partnerships.
For its immediate needs, Gratz will utilize the Jenkintown location to accommodate the college’s in- person staff and some weekly noncredit adult classes while renovations are made to the new Bala Cynwyd campus. Gratz has partnered with OZ Collaborative and Caritas Construction to reimagine the Main Line campus.
Construction is slated to start in June 2025 and will be completed in early 2026, school officials said. During that period, Gratz will continue selected operations in Bala Cynwyd.
“This is an exciting time for Gratz College,” said David Brawer, Chair of Gratz College’s Board of Governors. “The moving of our campus to Bala Cynwyd and the leasing of our new site in Jenkintown will provide the College with opportunities to expand our programs and provide much needed meeting spaces for both the Main Line and Old York Road communities.”
Since purchasing the Bala Cynwyd campus, the college has onboarded daily learning opportunities and attracted more than 150 regular attendees under the supervision of Daniel Levitt, Director of the Daniel and Louise Cohen Adult Jewish Learning Program.
In January, the college was granted the required zoning relief by Lower Merion Township to construct a link building to connect the two existing buildings. The link better secures the campus with a single point of entry, school officials said.
Gratz was awarded a $150,000 security grant by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to furnish the link building. The 14,500 sf Bala Cynwyd campus will include a cafe, new learning spaces, coworking areas, a teen lounge, and a theater that will feature the Dimensions in Testimony Holocaust survivor interactive technology.
As of March 2025, the College has raised $4.5 million of a total $6 million capital project.
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Photo: Gratz College