Wednesday, January 16, 2013
The Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority chose the Matrix Design Group to lead the next roughly year-long phase of Willow Grove air base’s future.
After several months of reviews, interviews and discussion among an ad hoc committee, the Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority picked the consultant team to guide the next step of Willow Grove air base’s lengthy redevelopment. The board voted unanimously Wednesday to approve execution of a $567,000 contract to the Matrix Design Group. HLRA Executive Director Mike McGee said he expects the contract to be finalized in the “next several days” and work to begin thereafter. Once that happens, the consultant team will begin the roughly 12-month process of leading the board in devising a business plan and pro forma. The firm’s study will encompass everything from traffic, water and sewer, stormwater management and other factors analyzed in large…
Friday, December 7, 2012
The Navy is holding a pair of open houses and is collecting comments on the shuttered Willow Grove air base.
Are you concerned about increased traffic coming in and out of what is now Willow Grove air base as 862 acres are redeveloped? Do you worry about the condition of the land where a new middle school is planned, or where more than 1,400 homes are expected to be built? If these, or other concerns are on your mind, the U.S. Navy wants you to share them. As part of the government's roughly 18-month-long environmental impact statement, which has been underway since summer, the BRAC Program Management Office is holding a pair of public open houses on Dec. 13 and Dec. 14. The meetings had originally been set for late October, but required rescheduling as a result of Hurricane Sandy. "We would very much like the public to come to the (Environmental…
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
The Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority hopes to have a consultant in place by January for the next phase of the reuse process for Willow Grove air base.
The Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority will likely wait another two months to select a consultant to lead the board in the next steps of its roughly 10-month process aimed toward redeveloping Willow Grove air base. Given that only three of five HLRA board members were present for Wednesday's meeting, Executive Director Mike McGee said it would be best to wait until the full board could be present to discuss what's next for the lengthy redevelopment process, which is expected to take 25 years to complete. The most immediate action is for the board to select a professional firm from the two submissions received last month to the board in devising a business plan and pro forma. McGee told Patch that he hopes to conduct interviews with …
Monday, February 27, 2012
Township manager to issue letter of support on behalf of the governing body for the HLRA's proposed redevelopment plan.
The Horsham Township Council voted unanimously Monday night to issue a letter of support to the Horsham Land Reuse Authority regarding its redevelopment plan for 862 acres of the Willow Grove air base. The plan, now in its fifth incarnation, is set to receive final approval—along with a few tweaks—at the HLRA March 21 meeting before the plans are due to the federal government by March 31. Township manager Bill Walker recommended the council authorize him to pen the letter of support, which the three members in attendance agreed to with little discussion. Council Vice President Gregory Nesbitt and Councilman William Whiteside, who chairs the HLRA, were not in attendance. The plan would convert the 862 acres of the total 1,100-acre base …
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…
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Consultants for the Horsham Land Reuse Authority presented three conceptual alternatives for repurposing 892 acres of military property, HLRA official said, the 'airport's dead.'
Fifteen years, roughly $700 million. That’s how long it’s expected to take and how much it will cost to redevelop 892 acres of land at the closing Willow Grove air base in Horsham. Consultants for the Horsham Land Reuse Authority presented three potential redevelopment options Wednesday night with price tags in the $672 million to $741 million range, not including the estimated $40 million infrastructure costs for road creation, water and wastewater improvements. W. William Whiteside, HLRA chairman and Horsham Township councilman, said the construction expenses would not be the sole responsibility of Horsham. Whiteside said the township prides itself on its ability to “encourage” developers to help cover such costs. “These are basic …
Friday, December 17, 2010
Representatives of 35 groups attend bus tour of 1,100-acre site.
About 80 people got a first glance on Thursday of how their vision for a park, school, homeless shelter, airport or more might fit into the former Willow Grove Naval Air Station. They represented 35 government entities or nonprofit organizations. Led by Michael McGee, Horsham Township Land and Reuse Authority executive director, the group departed Horsham Township's community center for an hour-long bus tour of the sprawling air base, which fronts Route 611 and Horsham Road in Horsham. Once military operations cease completely in September 2011, 892 "surplus" acres of the 1,100-acre site will be available for redevelopment, McGee said. Yet, McGee said it would be at least two years before any of the land is conveyed for reuse. Through …
Mike Shortall
10:47 pm on Friday, December 7, 2012
What exactly would be the benefit of having people vote on what to do there? And who gets to vote .... everyone in MontCo? Bucks too? Or just Horsham? Maybe the entire state of Pennsylvania should have a say! Please ... Besides the BRAC law, passed by the U.S. Congress to deal with excess public property does not allow for mob rule in making such complex decisions. Suggest you contact your … more ›