Chesco Commissioners Approve $3.4 Million Toward Affordable Housing

WEST CHESTER, PA – Chester County Commissioners Thursday approved $3.4 million in support of low-income housing developments in Caln Township and Phoenixville.

A total of $1.9 million will be allocated to construct 60 apartments at Willows at Valley Run, Caln Township, and $1.5 million for 50 apartments at Phoenixville Senior Housing, a 62-plus community.

Construction will begin in the fall.

“The awarding of this funding underscores our commitment to families and seniors struggling to remain a part of this community that we all love,” said Marian Moskowitz, commissioner chairwoman.

Willows at Valley Run features one- to three-bedroom units. Phoenixville has one- and two-bedroom apartments for seniors.

The housing funds distributed by the Chester County Department of Community Development focuses on households earning between 20% and 60% of the area’s median income, according to the department’s director, Dolores Colligan.

She also noted that the money comes from a combination of sources including the county’s housing trust and the federal HOME Investment Partnerships Program.

The housing trust fund dollars are generated by a fee paid on every mortgage and refinance recorded in the county. These funds are used solely for the development of affordable housing.

“These investments represent only a portion of the 350 affordable units we have in the pipeline as part of our participation in HUD’s (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) House America program,” said County Commissioner Josh Maxwell.

Maxwell said the county joined the program as part of a growing realization among cities and counties nationwide that we need to do as much as possible to make additional affordable housing available.

Developers submit competitive proposals to apply for the money. The Commonwealth matches those funds with Low Income Housing Tax Credits.

“Pinkney Hill Commons in West Chester, with 51 units, marks the first county-funded affordable housing development of this size in the borough since the Mary Taylor House in 2010, and it is ready to officially open in September, Commissioner Michelle Kichline said.

Kichline said the two new sites, plus the two opening in September add up to 221 affordable apartments, including $5.5 million in County funding.

“That is an outstanding accomplishment in that short of a time frame, especially for our high property value area,” she said.

While the county moves ahead with affordable rentals, another county partner, Habitat for Humanity has also been busy developing affordable homes for sale.

Habitat expects to see the remaining four homes of 68 built at Cambria Terrace in the city of Coatesville and the borough of South Coatesville before the end of the year.

Habitat’s Fuller Meadows townhome development in West Grove has sold the first 10 affordable homes, with 30 more coming in phases.