Mill Race Inn Redevelopment Plan Takes A Step Forward In Northampton

NORTHAMPTON TOWNSHIP — The latest plan to breathe new life into the dilapidated Mill Race Inn located in the heart of Holland took a step forward Tuesday night.

The township’s planning commission voted 4 to 0 with one abstention to recommend approval of a preliminary/final plan with conditions to redevelop the Buck Road site with a 55 and older residential condominium complex overlooking Mill Creek.

The plan proposes to demolish part of the former mill, but preserve the historic portion - about 2,000 square feet. The restored portion of the mill would then be reused as office space.

The plan also proposes to redevelop the site with 39 age-restricted one- and two-bedroom condominiums located in two different buildings - one with 27 units and the other with 12 units - that would look out over Mill Creek.

A rendering showing what the age-restricted development would look like.

The plan would continue to utilize the existing access off of Buck Road but with restrictive turning movements allowing only right and left turns into the site but only right turns out.

Land development attorney Douglas Maloney, representing developer M.J. Costigan of Yardley, said two years after entering into an agreement of sale with the township to purchase the property, the developer and his team of professionals continues to work through the challenges.

“The site is a challenge and it’s been a challenge for many, many years. The site is irregularly shaped and it is bordered by the creek and by Buck Road. And it's also subject to very steep slopes. It has very real development challenges,” said Maloney.

“We’re going to have to tweak the plan a little more before we get to the board of supervisors,” said Maloney. “Our engineer Keith Dumack has been working with the township’s engineer. We know there will be additional changes but we think they will be minor in nature.”

“A number of developers have tried to design improvements. Quite honestly, we’ve gotten further than anyone,” said Dumack.

The planners expressed support for the effort to redevelop the longtime eyesore, but added a list of conditions to its motion that it would like to see the developer address including limited parking spaces on site, access into and out of the site, pedestrian continuity, potential floodplain interference and topography issues.

"We’ve very happy you folks came before us. We hope this project can be molded into something that works for that area, works for the residents who will be living there and works for existing residents," said planning commission chairman Steve Saddlemire. "This is really an opportunity to enhance the whole Holland community.”

The Mill Race Inn has been shuttered since 1999 when the remnants of Hurricane Floyd caused significant damage to the building. It sustained additional damage in 2001 when a dam broke on Mill Creek as a result of driving rain. Since then, the once popular restaurant and event venue has deteriorated into a “total state of disrepair."

In 2013, the board of supervisors took action to address the decaying property, declaring the 14,000-square-foot building as blighted under the Pennsylvania Urban Redevelopment Law.

The supervisors also voted to engage the services of the Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County (RDA) to “take action” to redevelop the site through the condemnation of the property.

With the property deemed blighted, the RDA and the township moved forward with condemnation proceedings against the property with the goal of having it “rehabilitated, renovated and put back into a functional purpose.”

The owners – Mill Race Inn, Ltd, of Langhorne – challenged the condemnation in the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas in 2015 arguing that the RDA did not follow proper procedures when it proceeded with its condemnation of the property.

The court, after hearing arguments from both sides, rejected the objections made by the owners allowing the condemnation to move forward.

The owners appealed the decision to Commonwealth Court, which upheld the lower court ruling again finding in favor of the RDA.

In February 2017, the RDA put the property up for sale encouraging developers and private investors to come forward with development proposals that would preserve the historic nature of the building.

Following a public bidding process, the supervisors accepted a proposal from Riviera House LLC to purchase the property for $275,000.

Riviera had submitted the winning bid for the blighted property.

Riviera had planned to spend more than $2 million restoring the original mill portion of the building and renovating the local landmark into a Mediterranean-style restaurant with seating and event space for between 100 and 150 people.

The developer, however, couldn’t get the economics to work. “It didn’t make sense from a feasibility standpoint," said township supervisor Barry Moore at the time.

Fast forward to 2020. The board of supervisors approved the sale of the property to M.J. Costigan of Yardley, which has now been working on a development plan for the site for the past four years.

“It’s been an eyesore for many, many years,” said Supervisor Dr. Kimberly Rose in 2020. “The fact that they are willing to restore the original mill is also a good thing, saving something of historical value in our community. It’s a good decision.”

Added Chairman Adam Selisker, “This is a long time in coming. Hopefully we get all the way through it and we get the property cleaned up.”

If it can secure approval for the plan, the developer will benefit from the township’s LERTA zone, a tax abatement program on new construction and property improvements that defers state, county and local taxes on assessment improvements for a period of five years.

The LERTA zone, which includes the Mill Race Inn property, was established seven years ago by the township and renewed in 2020 for another five years to encourage residents and developers to invest in their properties and in the township.