Local Chester County real estate development firm the Hankin Group recently lost out to California-based national developer Catellus for the chance to redevelop the 862-acre shuttered Willow Grove Naval Air Station into “1,486 residential units, an office park, a town center, a golf course, an aviation museum, a middle school, a retirement community, a hotel and conference center, stores and a park,” according to a Philly.com report.

Though the Hankin Group’s proposal was considered strong, the Horsham Land Redevelopment Agency favored Catellus’ broad national and international clout and experience redeveloping other former military bases.

“The master developer has to go out, not just to a local Pennsylvania market but a national, international market looking for corporations, organizations that would be interested in relocating to the Horsham area,” HLRA board member and Hatboro-Horsham School District Superintendent said in the article. “It’s not just about the homes; it’s about the added value that the office parks and all of those elements bring.”

Meanwhile, both the HLRA and Catellus must wait on the Navy to conduct an environmental impact study on the chemical contaminants in old firefighting foams that were used on the base.

Read more about the selection of a master developer and the project’s status on Philly.com here, and check out previous Vista.Today coverage of the selection process here.