Shady Brook Farm to sell 80 acres. What's coming and what will remain in Lower Makefield

David Fleming Sr. taught his children: "There's one constant and it's change."

The Fleming siblings who jointly own Shady Brook Farm, one of Bucks County's largest and busiest agri-entertainment attractions, now are putting their father's lesson to use.

David Jr., Paul and Amy Fleming plan to sell about 80 acres of the 130-acre property on Stony Hill Road by the Newtown Bypass in Lower Makefield, to a partnership including DeLuca Homes and keep the remaining 50 acres to host entertainment events geared to families.

With DeLuca's development of the Prickett Preserve retail and housing complex across Stony Hill Road from the farm, the Flemings think the area is becoming a town center and they need to make the transition along with it.

"We want to be the 'Play' in "Live, Work, Play, Shop," said Paul Fleming.

Shady Brook Farm's Flemings have long history in Bucks County

The Fleming family has been farming in Bucks County since their great-grandfather, T. Herman Fleming, began with a partner in 1908 and then in 1913 started farming on his own in Andalusia.

The farm was named for a shady brook that ran behind the property. The family moved to its current location at the juncture of Lower Makefield, Newtown and Middletown townships in the 1960s.

Paul explained that the Flemings used to farm about 1,500 acres for wholesale but then housing developments began to mushroom around them in the 1980s.

Their father and his brother, Edward, divided their portions of the farm. Edward sold acreage at the intersection of the Newtown Bypass and Stony Hill Road to what is now Jefferson Health and David Sr. bought back more land from his brother as the family shrunk the size of the farm and changed its business from wholesale to retail.

They started offering rides through the farm and other agricultural entertainment to supplement the traditional farming business.

More: Wegmans in Lower Makefield set to open early 2024. Here's the plan for Prickett Preserve

The brothers noted that when the family first started inviting the public onto the proprety, they didn't have enough parking space and visitors had to park on a broccoli patch. Their father remarking that patch "was the most profitable broccoli we grew."

The business plan "has served the family very well for the past 30 years," Paul said.

Development at Newtown Bypass ushers in change for Shady Brook Farm

But now they see the change coming to the area, with Prickett Preserve and the planned development of the Torbert Farm, with some 75 planned homes, across the Newtown Bypass from their property.

Prickett Preserve includes 200 apartments, and several retail and dining spots on 36 acres across from Shady Brook Farm. The housing is well under construction too and the Wegmans is set to open early next year.

The fourth generation farmers want to prepare both for their retirements and for the fifth generation to take over the operation. They feel they would do well to set up an entertainment complex centered at what used to be the pack house where produce was prepared for shipment.

It will replace the current store which is on the portion of the property that will be sold for retail use and housing.

More: These farms were in long fight to preserve the agricultural landscape of Lower Makefield

"We realized that for us to get to the next generation, we needed to create a business that was sustainable, that was manageable...into the next generation," David Jr. said, and could support their children who want to stay in farming as well as those who would want more "passive" roles.

The plan for Shady Brook Farm's future

The Flemings plan to continue offering their Summer UnWINEd Concerts, Fall Fest and Holiday Light Show. The farm currently has an average of 4,000 to 5,000 visitors a day during these festivals and almost that many with school trips, they said as they sat and chatted in Paul Fleming's farmhouse on the property.

"We've developed these events that the community absolutely loves," Paul said. "We personally love to do these events and our employees really love these events. We feel it's an area we can thrive in."

And they will continue to offer educational programs about farming as well as sell their in-season, farm-fresh produce that people come far and wide to buy.

Dave Jr. said the farm was concerned that warehouses would have been built on the Prickett property and that was "scary" to them. They much prefer the town center concept now being built there.

"We really see we could fit into a town center in a fun way," he said.

This is the niche the siblings want to focus on as they downsize the farm and prepare to hand it off to their 10 children who range in age from 24 to 15. And they are concerned about their 50 full-time and 150 seasonal workers.

More: Plan could bring new homes to Lower Makefield's Torbert Farm off Newtown Bypass

They said the plan is "preliminary" and will take years to work out. They hope to be able to keep almost all their workers when it goes into effect.

And the proposal will include their parents, who are now in retirement, but own the Rose Bank Winery on Durham Road in Newtown Township. The three siblings will take control of the winery and wine from its vineyards will continue to be served at Shady Brook events.

The Flemings have consulted planners over the past three years to figure out how best to save the farm and the agricultural heritage, while allowing them to plan for the future in a changing region of Bucks County.

Developer envisions new homes and retail for Shady Brook parcel

Bob Rosenthal of Envision Land Use, a partner with DeLuca, said the Flemings had been approached by several warehouse developers about selling their land but were not interested. So they approached DeLuca about integrating the farm into the town center vision.

“It was really exciting to Envision and the DeLuca family who have long lived in the area,” he said.

Rosenthal said the developers plan to build homes, most likely age restricted, in the portion of the property in Middletown near Core Creek Park and a retail development in Lower Makefield as well as an addition to the existing trail system connecting the new development and Shady Brook Farm to Prickett Preserve and to Edgewood Village.

The whole development would be “unique,” Rosenthal said.

He couldn't say as yet when the deal will go to settlement or when construction would begin as the developers need to apply for zoning and land development approvals from Lower Makefield and Middletown.

He also couldn't give an investment estimate but said it would  be “a large investment in the community.”

The Flemings' next step is "to work with our municipal partners, such as Lower Makefield Township, to amend our existing zoning that would allow our family to make these upgrades," the family said on a website, www.preserveshadybrookfarm.com, developed to explain the proposal.

"We're excited to figure out a way to stay here," said Dave Fleming Jr.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Shady Brook Farm to sell land to DeLuca Homes on Lower Makefield property