Construction is under way for the first phase of a commercial development planned to include a host of new shopping and dining options.

Located at the northwest corner of Mason-Montgomery Road and Parkway Drive, the 17,500 square foot shopping center will host six tenants and a mix of retail shops and restaurants, several of them new to the region, according Bill Mees, development manager of Midland Atlantic Development Company.

The cost of the center’s first phase is about $4.5 million and scheduled delivery of the project to tenants is set for the end of May, Mees said.

“I would imagine it would take them two to three months to fit out their space, so they’d be open mid to late summer,” he said.

The second and third phases will follow over “the next number of years,” Mees said.

“They’re not imminent at this point, but we’ll probably have a mix of sit down restaurants and maybe some hospitality and office,” he said.

Site preparation started late last year at the former site of the Jewish Hospital North Medical Center, which has been demolished.

Deerfield Pointe will compliment neighboring Deerfield Towne Center, according to Bill Becker, the township’s administrator.

“There will be a few more restaurants that aren’t in here now … and as they develop it further it will be not all commercial, but some business and office towers,” Becker said.

Midland Atlantic also developed the Voice of America Centre in West Chester Twp., the Trader Joe’s/Verizon store at the Kenwood location, and the Kenwood Theatre at the Kenwood Place shopping center, Becker said.

“I think it speaks highly of Deerfield Twp.,” he said. “They bring a nice product. It fits the Deerfield area and compliments what we have here. We’re excited for them to be here and, talking to them, they’re excited to be part of Deerfield.”

To accommodate traffic that will be created by the new development, the township will start extending Parkway Drive by 600 feet west of Mason-Montgomery Road sometime later this winter or in early spring, according to township officials.

The roadway will be extended west to Wilkens Boulevard over the next year or two, officials said.