Tuesday, April 24, 2012
The plan will be sent to the federal government by Friday; the Horsham Township Council considers forming a new authority to manage the development process.
The final roadblock for submitting the approved redevelopment plan for Willow Grove air base has been cleared, officials said Monday. An agreement has been reached related to a legally binding agreement for a roughly seven-acre parcel earmarked for homeless housing on the 862-acre tract, Horsham Township Manager Bill Walker notified the governing body during Monday night’s meeting. “As of this afternoon we do have an agreement,” Walker said. “Signatures are expected Wednesday.” From there, the mixed-use blueprint for the bulk of the 1,100-acre former military base will be submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as the Department of Defense on Friday, Walker said. The finalized plan, which has been seven years…
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
A month after the HLRA approved its mixed-use redevelopment plan, it still has not been submitted to the federal government.
The federal government’s March 31 deadline for receipt of a NASJRB Willow Grove reuse plan has come and gone. Officials are hoping that the plan, approved in March, will be submitted by month’s end. Mike McGee, executive director of the Horsham Land Reuse Authority – the entity that adopted the sixth version of the redevelopment blueprint last month – said the delay centers around the inability to come to terms on a legally binding agreement for the homeless housing submission. Federal law requires that a portion of any redevelopment project considered for government-owned property include a component to address regional homeless housing needs. In terms of the air base redevelopment, that component pertains to 70 townhomes on roughly 9.3…
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
The federal government is expected to accept the plan within two years, with land transfer expected in three years.
A new future for shuttered Willow Grove air base was drafted Wednesday afternoon with the Horsham Land Reuse Authority’s approval of its long-awaited redevelopment plan. The culmination of six years of work on behalf of the nine-member board, the public in terms of comments and, for the last year, the HLRA’s consultant, RKG Associates, the sixth version of a massive mixed use redevelopment plan for 862 acres of the 1,100-acre property will now be forwarded onto the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. “I think this vote really needs a drum roll,” HLRA board member and former Warminster Township Supervisor Donnamarie Davis said moments before a vote was taken. “If anybody thinks there hasn’t been enough time and effort put …
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The township council voted to send a letter of support for the HLRA's development plan.
The Horsham Land Reuse Authority (HLRA) received more support for its plan for the 862 acres of land at the Willow Grove air base when the Horsham Township Council voted unanimously in favor of sending a letter of approval to the HLRA, Hatboro-Horsham Patch reports. The plan is set to receive final approval—along with a few tweaks—at the HLRA's March 21 meeting before the plans are due to the federal government by March 31. The plan would convert the 862 acres of the total 1,100-acre base into a mixture of residential and commercial properties, with more than 1,400 homes, a collection of retail units along Route 611 and a middle school for Hatboro-Horsham School District. Read more here.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
The Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County will demolish, tear out and grade the residential neighborhood and prepare it for further development.
The Warminster Planning Commission unanimously approved the Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County's (BCRDA) proposal to rehabilitate the Shenandoah Woods neighborhood and ready the site for future residential development. Representatives from the BCRDA gave an overview of how they would demolish the military housing and support structures, tear out the roadways, reconnect the utilities to the township system and grade the surface as preparation to the construction phase of the project. The RDA was tasked with coming up with the plan after the Department of Defense and HUD gave its stamp of approval to the plan submitted by the Shenandoah Woods sub-committee of the Horsham Land Reuse Authority (HLRA). As proposed, the 199 military units …
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Of that, runway demolition is expected to cost $17 million.
The Horsham Land Reuse Authority is closing in on the homestretch for approval of a redevelopment plan for 862 acres of shuttered Willow Grove air base. On Wednesday night, the board’s consultant, RKG Associates, presented a final view of what the property could look like dotted with 1,416 mixed-use residences, a 13-acre aviation museum, a 40-acre middle school, a robust town center and regional recreational area, an estimated 70 housing units for the homeless and a 133-acre office park expected to create more than 7,000 jobs – and a $457 million annual payroll - upon build out. The culmination of a “close to final” plan, according to HLRA Chairman William Whiteside, has led the board to its last hurdle before approving the reuse blueprint…
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
The Horsham Land Reuse Authority approved the fifth version of a redevelopment plan for NASJRB Willow Grove.
The Horsham Land Reuse Authority moved closer to an approved redevelopment plan for 862 acres of shuttered Willow Grove air base Wednesday by giving the green light to the fifth version of the conceptual color-coded map. With the approval of the so-called “option E,” the board directed its consultant, RKG Associates, to provide more specific financial data, as well as a breakdown of the number of the various types of housing units. RKG had previously proposed 1,999 residential units, but the board, last month recommended that the density be scaled back to 1,416 units. On Wednesday, HLRA Executive Director Mike McGee estimated that the total housing units would be in the 1,400 to 1,500 range. The HLRA is slated to introduce a final draft at…
Monday, January 16, 2012
The board meets Wednesday to consider the tweaked version of a redevelopment plan for 862 acres of Willow Grove air base.
The Horsham Land Reuse Authority is poised to weigh in on a fifth version of a redevelopment plan for Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove on Wednesday night. Dubbed “option E,” the newly tweaked plan is expected to address concerns related to the board’s suggestions to scale back the number of residential units from 1,999 to 1,416; build on larger lots; and provide more land for a middle school, among other issues. HLRA consultant, RKG Associates, was originally supposed to be in attendance Wednesday. However, HLRA Executive Director Mike McGee said the consultants will not be on hand, but will have supplied a revised plan – option E – in advance. “Hopefully the board will review it and confirm that the option E does address …
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
The board offered suggestions to its consultant. From those recommendations, a new version will be drafted.
Larger residential lots, 30 percent fewer homes and more land for a middle school. That was the crux of the directives the Horsham Land Resuse Authority outlined Wednesday afternoon as it suggested tweaks to the redevelopment plan for 862 acres of the shuttered Willow Grove air base. The largest recommended adjustment that HLRA Executive Director Mike McGee shared with the board, and, by conference call, its consultant Russell Archambault of RKG Associates, was a revised mixed-use residential plan, which scaled back the originally proposed 1,999 units to 1,416 on a total of 176 acres. “I believe that a good working number is 1,416,” McGee told the board. The board, which did not vote on any of the recommendations, seemed to agree. Several …
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Officials hope to provide suggested 'tweaks' to the HLRA's consultant by Dec. 21.
Just in time for the holidays, everyone has a wish list for the transformation of Willow Grove air base. Some want fewer homes, while others want a range of residential lot sizes. Many want better traffic flow on the oft-congested Route 611 and adjacent roadways and assurances that truck traffic will not cut through the 839-acre portion of the former military base, which upon buildout in 20-30 years is expected to generate an estimated $5.2 million annually for Horsham and create more than 5,000 permanent jobs. The Horsham Land Reuse Authority, upon hearing an overview of the fourth redevelopment option from its consultants Wednesday night, opted to hold off on making a decision until wish lists could be firmed up. “A motion tonight is …
James Kephart Jr.
10:27 am on Friday, May 4, 2012
Okay then - To Monday morning quarterback all of this: I think the Pitcairn family should have had the opportunity to buy back the land at the same price the gov't guilted them into selling it for. Then all of us in the peanut gallery wouldn't have a say. It looks like the Pitcairn's would have kept the runway and incorporated a small airport (no fed ex/ups flights) into the development of the … more ›