MAYOR DEDICATES NEW GOVERNOR’S SQUARE DEVELOPMENT MODEL HOME
Harrisburg, PA – Mayor Stephen R. Reed today officially dedicated the first of 72 new single-family townhomes that will make up the new Towns at Governor’s Square neighborhood in the City’s historic Uptown. The Governor’s Square model home is located at 415 Maclay Street.
Reed said the new development includes both two- and three-bedroom townhomes and is bounded by Maclay, Fulton, North 4th, and North 5th Streets. Each home includes gas heating, a one-car parking pad and architectural design standards that complement the surrounding neighborhood. Homebuyers also have the option of adding front porches, gas fireplaces, sunrooms and garages, said Reed.
The project includes exterior features including new sidewalks and trees.
The Mayor said base prices for the 72-unit neighborhood range from $80,000 (8 total units) to $100,000.00 (36 total units) to $120,000.00 (28 total units). Forty-four of the new units are reserved for first-time homebuyers and are income-restricted units at 115% of the area median income (AMI for the Harrisburg-Carlisle region is $77,625 in 2008).
"The extensive new construction and rebuilding occurring within this neighborhood area provides a major transformation to a measurable portion of the Uptown," Reed said.
The Governor’s Square development consists of the 72-unit Towns at Governor’s Square (for sale) and the 222-unit Residences at Governor’s Square (rental units), said Reed.
The developer for Governor’s Square is Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse (SBER), which is operating under the title of Uptown Partners, LLP. The architect is Henneman and Associates and the engineer is Dawood Engineering. The project’s general contractor is SBER Construction, Inc.
The development budget for the entire project, including both the rental units and the homeownership units, is $29.4 million. Funding for the development, including both rental and homeownership units, comes from both private and public sources. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided an $11.08 million up-front grant for construction costs for both the rental and for-sale units. A $585,000 City Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) covered much of the site work and infrastructure. Nearly $11.7 million in private equity was invested into the rental-unit portion of the project. Additionally, a $1.5 million private construction loan and a $2.363 million PHFA Homeownership Choice Program loan financed much of the 72-unit Towns at Governor’s Square portion of the project.
The sales team at Governor’s Square has begun taking contracts for buyers of the 72-unit project and said the first buyers are expected to settle in July 2008.
Reed said the Governor’s Square project, which covers a 45-acre area in nine square blocks, has been transformative to a part of the City that had been run down. It is also an instance where City intervention produced the major changes now underway.
Due to fiscal mismanagement and other issues, HUD foreclosed on the property, taking it away from its previous owners. Normally, HUD would have sold the then-existing residential units, known as the Maclay Street Apartments.
Reed said he requested HUD to forego the sale, which very likely would have resulted in another absentee owner continuing the blight. HUD approved the Mayor’s request to allow the City to market the site and create a plan for its complete upgrade – a plan that involved demolition of blighted structures, a new architectural design and site plan, new construction and the rehabilitation and upgrade of some existing structures.
The current developer was selected in that City-conducted process. Reed said the City used the same unconventional approach when HUD foreclosed on what was then known as City Towers at 3rd and Chestnut Streets. The City-conducted marketing and upgrade plan for that site resulted in the creation of what is today called Pennsylvania Place, whose private owner put more than $13 million into upgrades and new amenities as a condition of the sale.
The City intervention in both sites marked one of the first times the federal government allowed a city to take over the disposition of federally-secured properties. "In both instances, the end result has been a significantly-improved condition for both the properties and the surrounding neighborhoods, as opposed to the longstanding experience of large properties, with many residential units simply changing hands from one investor to another with little change in conditions of appearance," Reed said.
For more information on the Towns at Governor’s Square or the Governor’s Square project, contact Paul Bahn at 717-213-4212 or visit the project website at www.governorssquareharrisburg.com.
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