HLRA Selects Consultant to Lead Base Reuse

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-scale developments. Ultimately the point is to “prove” the board approved a viable mixed-use plan through completion of a “good business plan,” McGee said previously.

The finalized business plan and pro forma will be used in conjunction with the board’s economic development conveyance application to the federal government. Officials have said that the hope is for the HLRA to acquire the property and serve as master developer.

Matrix’s work will continue through negotiations with the Navy, McGee said.

The firm’s costs would be funded by a 90/10 split between the federal Office of Economic Adjustment and the HLRA, McGee said. For its part, the HLRA has a line of credit with Horsham Township. McGee told Patch that the HLRA has a “commitment” for a reimbursable grant already in place.

Matrix’s initial proposal was for $768,920, but McGee said that amount was reduced by more than $200,000 once officials determined that Matrix had included costs to develop proposed infrastructure based on lot lines, location of water and sewer lines, electric and other factors which McGee said are not yet set in stone.

The other applicant, Weston Solutions, had collaborated with RKG Associates, Inc. on a separate $475,505 submission.

RKG served as the HLRA’s lead consultant during the most pivotal phase of the 862-acre redevelopment plan, which included countless public meetings and presentations ultimately leading the board to advance plans without an airport. Based on the uses the board approved last year, RKG also plotted what would go where on the and submitted to the federal government.

But, on Wednesday, HLRA Chairman W. William Whiteside said Matrix offered the expertise to arrive at the “best possible outcome for Horsham Township.”

“This is the basis for our negotiations with the Navy,” Whiteside said. “There’s a lot of dollars at stake,” he said, adding that it was important to “reap maximum opportunities from this.”