Community Revitalization Desktop Guide

a nuisance bar out of business) and is offering the space to regional restaurateurs for a ﬁne dining restaurant. While several retailers have asked about the space, the town is following the advice of urban planners and holding out for a destination restaurant that will revive downtown after work hours. In another sign of the Security Trust Building’s impact, several new businesses have moved in across the street. Leveraging the successful redevelopment project, the borough and the developer discuss redeveloping a nearby brownfield, the Mrs. Smith’s Pies Site. While the Security Trust project was being completed, Mrs. Smith’s Pies site went on the market. Although Mrs. Smith’s did not ofﬁcially close down until 2001, much of the site had sat vacant for nearly 10 years. The site is located on Hanover Street, just one block south of the Security Trust Building, and it forms Pottstown’s gateway to visitors who arrive off of Route 422. To ensure that this key downtown site would not attract new industrial uses, the Borough rezoned the site as a gateway district permitting mixed use ofﬁce, retail and housing. While in town ﬁnishing up the Security Trust Building, Wolﬁngton discovered that the Mrs. Smith’s Pie site was up for private sale. The developer had proven that he could make a proﬁt on redevelopment in Pottstown and was able to secure more private funds for the redevelopment, but he still needed public dollars to make it work. In 2005, Wolﬁngton asked the Governor’s CAT team, the County RDA, and the Borough to meet with him to discuss the Mrs. Smith’s project. Conﬁdent that he had the state and local ofﬁcials behind him, Wolﬁngton and his investors – together known as the Pottstown Redevelopment Corp.- bought the property for $5.65 million. At ﬁrst, Wolﬁngton and his partners were considering a retail outlet center with restaurants and ofﬁce space. Over time it became clear that there was demand for new residential products on the 422 corridor because of its proximity to some major suburban job clusters. Wolﬁngton and his investors, the Borough, the county, and the state met regularly to devise a plan that would work for the site. The town’s residents wanted the site to create a community gateway for Pottstown and provide ofﬁce and retail. The market demand for the site, however, favored new housing, light industrial and highwayoriented retail. The question was how to merge the town’s visions with market realities to create a development the town could support and the developer could sell. A key step in forming a plan everyone could support was to alleviate the concern of Pottstown residents that proposed residential units would bring in so many new families with children that it would overwhelm the Pottstown School District. Wolﬁngton commissioned an economic analysis that showed that the new development would generate few new students because the majority of units would be unattractive to large families. Another point of contention was the fact that the Borough had extended the Keystone Opportunity Zone (KOZ) to include the Mrs. Smith’s site. Residents felt it was unfair that new residents would not pay taxes that prior residents paid. To resolve this conﬂict, the Borough cut the area that would be used for residences out of the KOZ. The commercial, ofﬁce and light industrial areas would continue to offer the tax-free beneﬁts of a KOZ. After over a year of discussions, the town and the developer arrived at a proposal that included a mix of features that respected the town vision and market forces. A new housing development of 120 townhomes would help meet existing markets. Balanced residential and commercial would offer the town the retail and ofﬁce space that they sought, and maximizing development on the site would help Pottstown to boost its tax rate. The result was an ambitious $40 million mixed-use redevelopment plan that called for the construction of new commercial ofﬁce and retail space as phase one, and the development of downtown market-rate housing as the phase two. The plan also included a gateway off of Route 422, an attractive building with a clock tower that will include 25,000 square feet of retail, and 25,000 square feet of professional ofﬁces. The Commonwealth agreed to provide capital assistance. In December 2004, Governor Rendell offered $2.6 million in aid in the form of Housing and Redevelopment grants as well as Main Street program funding. The Borough and county did not invest funding in this project. On April 10, 2006 the Borough approved the Conditional Use Application of the Pottstown Redevelopment Group to permit the development of 120 attached single-family dwelling units at the former Mrs. Smith’s Pies Plant. A couple of months later the Mrs. Smith’s Land Development Plan was approved as well. Unfortunately, with the ﬂattening housing market, construction scheduled to begin at the end of 2006 has stalled. The Borough and the State are committed to making this project happen and are talking to Wolﬁngton to discuss when and how construction can get jumpstarted. Even though the Mrs. Smith’s Pies site redevelopment is still on paper, developers referencing the Mrs. Smiths development and its creation of a new customer base within walking distance of downtown have expressed interest in investing in Pottstown. Completing the complementary projects involving Hanover Street Bridge, Schuylkill River Greenway and Montgomery County Community College pedestrian tunnel became the next priority. In addition to the joint efforts of CAT and the Borough, the CAT engaged in efforts to facilitate the complementary projects of the Hanover Street Bridge restoration, improvements to the recreational greenway space adjacent to the riverfront, and the construction of a pedestrian tunnel connecting the community college with Pottstown’s downtown commercial district. CAT worked with PennDOT to provide funding from PennDOT’s Hometown Streets Program for bridge repairs. Although this project may not have “ranked” well as a stand-alone project, its relationship with the other features of the Pottstown redevelopment effort, as well as the advocacy of the Departments of Community and Economic Development (DCED) and Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), justiﬁed PennDOT investment. Similarly, based on the overall project perspective and CAT’s advocacy, DCNR agreed to fund riverfront improvements from its Growing Greener program. CAT had equal success in providing $265,000 of Housing and Redevelopment Assistance funding from DCED for the construction of a pedestrian tunnel to link the college and downtown. In addition to providing funding, CAT personnel were instrumental in accelerating the design and funding processes to expedite the construction process. A process that may well have taken 2 years was completed in 9 months as a result of CAT’s oversight and involvement. GOAL FOUR: APPLY STRATEGIES THAT WORK Pottstown 60

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Community Revitalization Desktop Guide

PA Community Revitalization Desktop Guide Table of Contents How To Attract High Impact Investment to Core Communities Goal One: Choose One Asset-Rich Redevelopment Area Interviews with Pennsylvania Mayors Goal Two: Prepare Redevelopment Area for Market Interviews with Developers who Have Invested in Pennsylvania Cities and Towns Goal Three: Welcome Investment Interviews with Developers who Have Invested in Pennsylvania Cities and Towns Goal Four: Apply Strategies That Work Conclusion

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