Here’s What the Median 2-Bedroom Rent Will Get You in King of Prussia

Valley Forge Towers apartment building | Valley Forge Towers photos: The Galman Group

Our Tour de Median Rent lands this week in King of Prussia, the place out where the Turnpike meets the Schuylkill. The region’s hub for shop-till-you-drop luxury retail, it’s also the locus of a concerted effort to turn what was once an average suburb with a large shopping mall into a more urbane, if not necessarily more urban, live/work/play environment.

So let’s look at the “live” side of this triangle. The latest Apartment List data peg KofP as having the third-highest median rent for a two-bedroom apartment in this region: $1,520 a month. So, rounding down and looking $100 in either direction, we went to see what we could find for $1,400 to $1,600 per month here. One of the answers surprised us.

Valley Forge Towers clubhouse

Valley Forge Towers North, 3000 Valley Forge Circle (both photos above) | 2-bed, 2-bath apartments range in size from 1,154 to 1,308 square feet and rent for $1,476 to $1,874 per month. Pets welcome; contact leasing office for details.

And here’s the surprise: You can actually get a two-bedroom apartment in an honest-to-God luxury apartment tower for somewhere around the median two-bedroom rent in King of Prussia. This high-rise just a stone’s throw from Valley Forge National Park, the Valley Forge Casino Resort and the KofP office park lards on the perks: Complimentary continental breakfast in the lobby. Indoor and outdoor pools with a steam room. A private cinema in the clubhouse. Barbecue grills, a kids’ play area, a fitness center and a sauna. Concierge services including package acceptance and delivery. A social lounge with book and DVD lending libraries. And the list goes on.

The apartments themselves are just as snazzily outfitted, with stylish fixtures in the bathrooms, granite countertops and the latest appliances in the kitchens, private balconies with storage space, and not only laundry facilities but also safes in each apartment. The environment’s not as pedestrian-friendly as we might prefer, but this is King of Prussia, after all. You can at least hop on the Route 125 bus to get to the malls, Valley Forge Park and Center City. There’s also a shopping arcade with a hair salon, travel agent, physical therapist, massage therapist and deli on the ground floor; if you need any of those services, you can also avoid a drive.

Valley Forge Towers North, 3000 Valley Forge Circle, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 [The Galman Group]

Abrams Run apartment buildings | Abrams Run and Kingswood photos: Morgan Properties

Abrams Run model apartment living room

Abrams Run Apartment Homes, 111 Bill Smith Blvd. | 2-bed, 2-bath apartments range in size from 1,078 to 1,190 square feet and rent for $1,583 to $1,669 per month and up. Pets welcome, up to two per unit; breed and weight restrictions may apply.

This award-winning apartment community was more along the lines of what we expected to find on our search, and frankly, it gives you good value for your rent dollar. The apartments in this garden complex are all in great shape, and they have private entrances and patios or balconies. Community amenities include tennis and basketball courts, playgrounds for both the kids and the pooches, an outdoor media lounge with table games, a clubhouse with a 24/7 fitness center, business center and game room, and access to the swimming pool at a nearby community run by the same firm. The community is right off South Gulph Road as well, giving you quick and easy access to the heart of KofP.

The management company is offering a special: $250 off the rent for a two-bedroom apartment if you apply on the same day you take your tour. Conditions may apply; ask the leasing agent for details.

Abrams Run Apartment Homes, 111 Bill Smith Blvd., King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 [Morgan Properties]

Kingswood apartment building

Kingswood model apartment living room

Kingswood Apartments & Townhomes, 580 Lewis Rd. | 2-bed, 1 full, 1 half- to 2-bath apartments range in size from 960 to 1,020 square feet and rent for $1,245 to $2,440 per month. Pets welcome, up to two per unit; breed and weight restrictions may apply.

This is the “nearby community” referred to above; it’s just a little ways down Gulph Road from Abrams Run, on the other side of the Valley Forge Memorial Gardens cemetery. It’s also a garden complex with the usual complement of amenities, give or take a few: this complex has the pool and cabanas, it has a clubhouse, and it has two dog parks, but it lacks basketball courts (it has you covered if you play tennis). One reason for the wide variations in rent: Some of this community’s apartments have been upgraded with up-to-the-minute kitchens and in-unit laundry facilities, while others remain untouched and share coin-operated laundry rooms. As far as location and convenience are concerned, see Abrams Run above.

Kingswood Apartments and Townhomes, 580 Lewis Rd., King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 [Morgan Properties]

Gulph Mills Village apartment building

Gulph Mills Village model apartment living room and kitchen

Gulph Mills Village Apartments, 649 S. Henderson Rd. | 2-bed, 2-bath apartments range in size from 980 to 1,000 square feet and rent for $1,464 to $1,558 per month. Cats welcome, up to two per unit; $250 deposit and additional monthly rent apply.

This mid-rise apartment complex is set in a lushly wooded landscape that has the feel of a garden apartment community. Community amenities include a swimming pool, a courtyard and a fitness center housed in the 19th-century farmhouse that also contains the management and leasing office. Some of the units have been renovated and contain modern kitchens like the slick Eurostyle one in the model unit shown above; most of the upgraded units, however, have kitchens a notch or two below that one on the style index. Even the unrenovated units have kitchens and bathrooms that are in good shape. (Apartment amenities vary with the apartment.) If you work in Chesterbrook and want to leave your car at home, this complex is a good choice because it’s located on the Route 124 bus line.

Gulph Mills Village Apartments, 649 S. Henderson Rd., King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 [Westover Communities]

Photo: North Penn Real Estate

416 W. DeKalb Pike | 2 beds, 1 bath, 831 square feet, $1,500 per month. No pets.

If you’d like to live in King of Prussia the way it used to be, this cottage will take you there. It’s in very good condition with a recently updated kitchen where you’ll be cooking with gas. There’s plenty of room for relaxing and entertaining in the open living/dining room, and in back you’ll find your own patch of green and two storage sheds. As you’re right on the main thoroughfare through the area, getting where you want to go should be simple, except when traffic clogs the roads around the mall.

416 W. DeKalb Pike, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 [C. David Keyser | North Penn Real Estate via Zillow]