We love hearing (and sharing) stories about our residents at Dockside: how they found us, why they love living here. One of our favorite stories recently is about two of our favorite people, Pat and Rick Serine, who found their perfect retirement home at Dockside.

Pat and Rick were ready for a change. After a lifetime of suburbia, including the last 30+ years living in a 4,000-square-foot home in Clarks Summit, PA, they were ready for a completely different lifestyle for their retirement years. After an extensive search around Philadelphia, they found exactly what they were looking for here at Dockside.

“We wanted to retire somewhere that had some excitement,” Rick shared, “so we wouldn’t be bored in retirement! We’re in relatively good health and we’re very mobile, so our intent was to move from the suburbs to the city, to take advantage of all that Philadelphia has to offer – the energy and the excitement of the city. Our whole experience had been suburbia. Everywhere we went, we had to drive. Now, we wanted to be able to leave the car at home, walk around and explore the city. Plus, we wanted a condo. We had the big home with the pool on two-and-a-half acres, which was great. But it’s also a lot of upkeep, so you either spend all your free time on home repairs and chores, or pay someone else for the maintenance. We were done with all that. At this stage in our lives, we didn’t want to have to worry about anything other than taking care of ourselves and enjoying life.”

Of course, The Residences at Dockside is the ideal place to do just that. We’ve earned a reputation as one of Philadelphia’s most unique residential experiences, with upscale condominiums for sale or rent, a low-maintenance lifestyle and some of the finest resort-style amenities available in the area. Considering the magnitude of this lifestyle change, the Serines spent considerable time exploring different places in Philadelphia before choosing Dockside.

“We looked for about a year and did a fairly extensive search,” Rick said. “We knew we wanted to be in a city, and Philly was our number-one choice. Our daughter and two grandchildren are in the area, so we liked the idea of being closer to them. We had a very good realtor and we did a lot of online looking. We visited dozens and dozens of places, and it seemed like every time we were driving around, we kept seeing Dockside and the big sign saying ‘Condos Available.’ So we decided to come in and see them.”

The Serines were immediately impressed with Dockside!

“The amenities are fantastic,” Rick commented. “We use the fitness center regularly. And the shuttle system is great. We take it to go further into the city, and then walk our way back. And the driver is a really great guy. The gentlemen at the front desk have also been spectacular. In fact, everyone has been so pleasant. John in the sales office made everything about our move here so easy. We’ve built a couple of homes in the past and the process of buying here and doing some renovations before moving in was actually easier than any of those. The whole process was very positive.”

In spite of all these benefits and amenities, the Serines were not hasty in making their decision, as Rick explained.

“We were very impressed with Dockside,” Rick said, “but at first, our feeling was that we should be right in Center City. So we continued to look at other places, but nothing really compared to Dockside. Much of what we saw were older-style buildings, or three-story homes, which would not be good for us in the long-term, to deal with all those steps. A lot of other elevator buildings that did have one-floor condos like Dockside either did not have a nice view, or didn’t have enough of a terrace to enjoy outdoor living. Dockside had that and so much more. So we came back to look again – this time with a different perspective. We realized that what we have here is a building that’s literally on the water, with expansive views that are just unbelievable. And we can be in the city in literally minutes: we can leave our door and walk to Society Hill in seven minutes. So that became a big selling point for us. Then, as we met people who already lived here, nobody ever had a bad thing to say about it. Everyone loves it here!”

Since moving to Dockside in October 2014, the Serines have entertained friends and family in their new home, all to rave reviews.

“We’ve had friends come down from the Scranton area where we lived and they loved it,” Rick continued. “We had friends visit for New Year’s Eve. We walked to dinner and came back to watch the fireworks over the water from our condo. My one friend, who is not a city person, said, ‘This is a beautiful place – you have a million-dollar view.’ Then, the other day we had our grandchildren over. We spent a day with them in the city and did a lot of different things, then came back and went swimming in the pool. Before they left, our four-year-old granddaughter said ‘I want to live here!’ That really says it all.”

Dockside residents: what’s your story? We’d love to hear it – and maybe even share it!

An if you’re not a Dockside resident, maybe it’s time! Visit us to learn more about current availabilities. Take a tour of our models – and discover why more and more people from the Delaware Valley and beyond are choosing to make the move to this one-of-a-kind place.

Our sales office is open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.; and Sundays from 12:00 Noon–5:00 p.m. Or call to schedule a private appointment: 215-925-3000.