Governor’s budget proposal includes $70M more for affordable housing
In his 2025-2026 budget proposal, Gov. Josh Shapiro highlighted a six-part plan and $70 million in new funding to expand affordable housing across Pennsylvania, as the cost of homes and rent has increased exponentially. “To meet the need for housing this year alone, we need more than 100,000 new homes and apartments,” he said. Shapiro’s plan includes $10 million to help first-time home buyers with closing costs, aimed at moving people out of the rental market. Shapiro also proposed an additional $10 million toward the state’s existing program that funds the development of affordable housing units and $50 million in funds to repair homes. Additionally, he advocated for the creation of an interagency council on homelessness, new staff on the state’s planning board, and the sealing of eviction records of residents who were never evicted from their homes. Shapiro said the highlighted steps were developed by his Housing Action Plan, which will produce a full report later this year.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer; 2/4/2025

PAR offers campaign school
Realtors considering a run for a local elected office are invited to sign up for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors’ (PAR) campaign school. The sessions are designed for candidates, campaign team staff and people interested in the democratic process of elections. View session information and register at the PAR website.
Source: PA Realtors; 1/31/2025

What is Philadelphia's exposure to potential cost-cutting efforts in federal real estate?
As the Trump administration looks to cut federal spending, one potential option of reducing its office footprint could have far-reaching ramifications, including on Philadelphia’s embattled office market. The General Services Administration (GSA), which oversees the federal government’s roughly 360-million-square-foot portfolio, leases more than 3 million square feet of space in the Philadelphia metro area, according to real estate data firm Trepp. That accounts for 2.9% of the local office market. In Philadelphia, expiring GSA leases have put office owners in precarious situations relating to their ability to pay off loans or forced owners to creatively restructure deals. “It has a huge impact because the GSA leases so many square feet around the city,” Wolf Commercial Real Estate managing director Todd Monahan said. “It’ll increase vacancy if they downsize further." An analysis by the Business Journals found 1,715 of the GSA’s listed leases nationally are set to expire in 2025 and 2026, totaling at least 47 million square feet.
Source: Philadelphia Business Journal; 2/2/2025

Landlords prepare as Elon Musk's effort to mass terminate federal leases
The General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a Trump administration task force, are reaching out to all agencies with “non-firm term leases” in an initial step toward chopping the feds’ massive leased portfolio, a major law firm told its clients. Holland & Knight LLP, which has an office in Philadelphia, issued an alert explaining landlords’ rights and responsibilities as they confront an expected effort by Elon Musk and DOGE, the fledgling operation he leads, to mass cancel leases nationwide. DOGE announced that the federal government had terminated 22 leases — out of roughly 7,500 nationwide — saving the feds $44.6 million. “Lessors should keep in mind that leases, unlike government contracts, do not automatically provide the government with a right to terminate for convenience,” per the Holland & Knight memo. “Accordingly, lessors should closely review the terms of their leases and consult with counsel to understand their rights regarding termination, waivers and potential claims." DOGE claims the leases it has canceled so far have been for "mostly empty" office space, but it has not identified their locations.
Source: Philadelphia Business Journal; 2/4/2025

New $25M fund to support reinvestment projects in the Delaware Valley
T.D. Bank poured $25 million into a new equity fund earmarked to support low- to moderate-income communities across the Delaware Valley as part of its Community Reinvestment Act requirements. The fund, known as the 481 CEI-Boulous Impact Fund LLC, will include equity investments expected to be between $2 million to $8 million to help close the funding gap for “high-impact” real estate projects. Projects in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties will be eligible. Nancy Gephart, a former executive at SHIFT Capital in Philadelphia, is the new senior vice president of investments at CEI-Boulous Capital Management LLC. Gephart said the group is looking to invest in projects that meet several goals, such as affordable housing or environmental sustainability. “Projects that will revitalize areas that are vacant and blighted and really kind of create vibrancy in neighborhoods that haven’t seen investment historically,” Gephart said. Read more at WHYY.
Source: WHYY; 2/3/2025 

Nockamixon Superfund site added to state’s priority cleanup list
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has included a contaminated area of Nockamixon to the state’s Priority List of Hazardous Sites for Remedial Response. The Bucks County Health Department first notified the DEP of trichloroethylene groundwater contamination on properties along Brennan Road in 2009. A former farm, the 77 acres along Brennan Road was reportedly used by its owner to dispose of drummed and bulk liquid industrial waste before the property was subdivided into nine parcels in 1978. The DEP has already been working to improve conditions of the Superfund site by installing protection measures at homes impacted by the contamination, an agency news release said that the designation will allow the agency to “remediate contamination at the source.”
Source: Bucks County Courier Times; 1/30/2025

Central Bucks presents options for three elementary schools
Central Bucks School District Superintendent Steven Yanni and the district’s chief operating officer, Tara Houser, addressed approximately 150 people at the first of three town halls focused on what to do with three of the district’s aging elementary schools. The presentation detailed the deficiencies at the three small schools, reiterating what’s been discussed at school board meetings and on the district’s “Update the Eight” website, which is dedicated to the projects at each of the eight elementary schools being evaluated. The school board has already decided to spend $235 million on upgrades to five of the schools. Two additional town hall meetings are scheduled. The first will be on Thursday, Feb. 27, at Central Bucks East High School, 2804 Holicong Road in Buckingham. The second will be on Thursday, March 27, at Central Bucks South High School, 1100 Folly Road in Warrington. Both start at 7 p.m. Read more in the Bucks County Herald.
Source: Bucks County Herald; 2/4/2025

Creekside Apartments in Bensalem reaches agreement resolving fair housing allegations
The Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania (HECP) and Creekside Apartments in Bensalem Township entered into a conciliation agreement, resolving allegations that the company discriminated against prospective tenants with disabilities who called to request reasonable accommodations. A consumer complaint led to findings of extra fees for emotional support animals despite medical documentation verifying a disability-related need for the animal. It was also found that parking spaces could not be reserved for residents with limited mobility. Creekside admitted no wrongdoing, but the resolution will result a payment of $25,000 to HECP to cover a portion of the costs incurred to bring about the agreement and to provide future consumer education regarding the fair housing rights of persons with disabilities, as well as reaching an agreement with the consumer for an additional monetary sum. Creekside’s staff will participate in comprehensive fair housing training and will adopt revised policies that comply with the Fair Housing Act and federal guidance on reasonable accommodations. Read more on the HECP website.
Source: Housing Equality Center of Pennsylvania

Falls seeks township manager
Falls Township officials are seeking a replacement for the township manager, Matt Takita, who has served in that capacity since 2020. Takita, who has 30 years of zoning and code enforcement experience, will remain with Falls as the township’s chief code enforcement and zoning officer. The township has posted the job listing on its website. The manager is the top administrator overseeing a township with a $52 million budget and 87 employees. Falls will accept resumes through the first week of March and expects to hire for the position by May.
Source: Bucks County Courier Times; 1/31/2025

Middletown Supervisor Anna Payne has died
Middletown Township Supervisor Anna Payne has died. She was 37. She was first elected in 2019 to the board of supervisors and had previously served as its chairperson. Her term was set to expire at the end of 2025. Payne was a community advocate before becoming an elected official in Bucks County. A Neshaminy High School graduate, Payne lived with cystic fibrosis for much of her life and had been battling colon cancer for four years. She founded the Bucks County Cystic Fibrosis Alliance and served as chair of the PA Rare Disease Advisory Council and the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The township posted, "Her passion for Middletown Township and her advocacy for the community will not be forgotten. Her kindness, dedication and spirit will forever be an inspiration to us all.”
Source: Bucks County Courier Times; 2/4/2025  

East Goshen resumes point-of-sale inspections
As of Feb. 1, East Goshen Township has reinstated a requirement for point-of-sale inspections. The application for a Residential Property Transfer Application can be found here. The cost of the resale inspection is $150. There is also a separate sewer or septic certification ($15) and trash certification ($15). Applications must be complete, and 15 business days are needed by the township for processing. The township had stopped performing inspections in April 2024.

PA mandates measures to combat phorid fly crisis near mushroom houses
The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture issued a quarantine order to mitigate phorid flies after four Chester County municipalities issued emergency declarations to bring attention to the havoc the flying pests are wreaking on mushroom growers and residents. Chester County is home to nearly 2,000 mushroom houses. The phorid fly destroys up to 40% of the region’s mushroom crop each year. The pest has increased exponentially in numbers across Southern Chester County since 2012. The quarantine order from the state requires that growers use the “proven” practice of steaming between crops to eliminate the fly. The state is providing $500,000 in grants for farms to implement the quarantine.
Source: Daily Local; 2/1/2025

Kennett Township supervisors consider pay increase
Kennett Township supervisors will consider increasing new supervisors’ salaries beginning in 2026. Under Pennsylvania Act 94, supervisors in second-class townships like Kennett can elect to be paid for each meeting. The township solicitor could write a resolution that would increase a new supervisor’s salary to $4,190 a year. “The current compensation rate of $2,500 per year does not reflect the hours that the current supervisors choose to put into their positions,” said Alison Dobbins, the township manager. “The twice-per-month board of supervisors meetings require hours of advance review of all documents for consideration. There is also active involvement in the monthly meetings of the various boards, commissions and committees.”
Source: Chadds Ford Live; 2/3/2025

Chester County preserved 1,200 acres of open space in 2024
Chester County permanently protected more than 1,200 acres of land in 2024, officials said in a review of their open space programming last year. The county runs two preservation initiatives — Open Lands and Agricultural Preservation — that target at-risk farmland, vital ecological land and areas of public interest for recreation. The investment comes as the county continues to see significant increases in development of new properties in many of its municipalities. All told, preserved land covers roughly 31% of Chester County. Some 65,000 acres of farmland, open space, nature preserves and parks have been saved since the programs launched.
Source: West Chester Patch; 1/30/2025

Easttown's new communications board needs members
Easttown Township is looking for citizens to serve on the newly created Media Communications Advisory Board. The board's responsibilities include evaluating and making recommendations to the township supervisors on matters that improve township outreach to residents, property owners, taxpayers and the public. More information is available on the township website.
Source: Tredyffrin-Easttown Patch; 2/5/2025