By Josh McKnight | The McKnight Team
Bruce Goodman, owner of Bluestone Country Club in Blue Bell, submitted a conditional use application to Whitpain Township to redevelop the roughly 130-acre golf course into 104 single-family homes and 38 townhomes. He filed a waiver pausing the review timeline the same day.
Blue Bell PA real estate rarely sees a 142-unit application land and stall in the same motion, and Goodman says he has no intention of pursuing it.
Why a Developer Would File a Plan He Does Not Want Approved
Goodman purchased the club for about $4.8 million in 2016. In a note to members, he said the application was filed defensively, to protect the property and his property rights, after Whitpain Township rezoned Bluestone and three other properties out of Park and Recreation to allow residential use. He did not ask for that rezoning.
The trigger, by his account, was a former member who reportedly threatened to spend significant resources blocking any future development of the site. Filing an application establishes a position. Pausing it stops the clock without withdrawing.
So the plan exists on paper and is formally inactive. Nothing is under review unless Goodman lifts the pause. The clubhouse and event space stay in every version he has put forward.
What the Bluestone Filing Actually Means for Blue Bell PA Real Estate
A paused application is not a project. It is a placeholder. No engineering. No traffic study. No timeline. Treat it as a signal about the land, not a forecast about the housing.
Set that against what the numbers show right now. The average Blue Bell home value is $709,455, up 3.5 percent over the past year, per Zillow data through July 31, 2026. Montgomery County overall sits at $499,755, up 2.4 percent. Blue Bell runs well above its county and it is growing faster.
That premium is the reason the rezoning happened, and it is why Blue Bell PA real estate absorbs new supply better than most of this county. It is also the reason the land will not stay a golf course forever.
Why the Rezoning Is the Real Story
Whitpain rezoned four properties out of Park and Recreation without the owners requesting it. Municipalities usually rezone in response to an application. Rezoning first, in advance, is a different move, and it tells you the township has already formed a view about what this land becomes.
Golf courses are the largest reservoir of developable land left in built-out Montgomery County. Large contiguous parcels, already graded, already served by roads and utilities, held by owners whose membership economics have been under pressure for two decades. Cheltenham is converting the former Melrose Country Club into roughly 443 residences right now. Blue Bell is watching the same arithmetic.
Reasonable people land differently on whether that is loss or supply. Open space has real value to the people who live beside it, and a state short 185,000 homes cannot preserve every acre it would like to. Both things can be true.
If you own within sight of a golf course anywhere in this county, tell your neighbor to check the zoning map, not the fairway. The zoning changed before anybody filed anything.
What This Means for You
If you own near Bluestone, nothing changes on your next appraisal. A paused conditional use application is not a pending development and an appraiser will not treat it as one. What you should do is read the rezoning ordinance itself, because that is the document with actual legal effect. If you are buying near a course in Whitpain, ask your agent to pull the current zoning on the fairway before you write an offer, not after your inspection.
Large parcel conversions move slowly and then all at once, and the difference between a rumor and an entitlement is usually a document you can read in an afternoon. Blue Bell sits inside Whitpain Township, where tight supply and a high price point make every large parcel worth your attention. The current numbers on our Blue Bell PA homes for sale page are a reasonable place to start.
Thinking about buying or selling in Blue Bell or Whitpain Township? Let’s talk.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Bluestone Country Club Plan
What is a conditional use application in Pennsylvania?
It is a request to use a property in a way the zoning permits only under specific conditions. The township reviews it against standards in the ordinance and may approve, deny, or attach conditions.
Will the Bluestone plan affect Blue Bell home values?
Not while it is paused. Blue Bell home values sit at $709,455, up 3.5 percent over the past year, per Zillow data through July 31, 2026, with the application formally inactive.
Should I buy a home next to Bluestone right now?
The zoning already permits residential use, so that risk exists whether or not this application ever moves. Read the rezoning ordinance and price the entitled use rather than the paused plan.
What happens next with the Bluestone application?
Nothing until Goodman lifts his own waiver and restarts the review clock. If he does, Whitpain Township would hold hearings on the conditional use before any approval could follow.
