Economic development group looks to provide housing units in N. Lebanon Twp.

The Lebanon Valley Economic Development Corporation would like to give Lebanon Countians a place to call home.

LVEDC officials have approached North Lebanon Township officials to discuss rezoning a parcel of land along Hanford Drive from industrial to R2-residential for an attainable housing project, according to Susan Eberly, LVEDC’s president and CEO.

“We have that 18-acre parcel on the north side of Hanford Drive (in Lebanon Rails Business Park) that butts up against residential housing,” Eberly said about the project. “Right now, if you’re driving through the county or listening to people talk, everyone says we don’t need any more distribution centers.” 

Eberly said the economic development corporation wants to help address the housing crisis that currently exists in Lebanon County. 

“We still want to recruit and grow, so I was looking at that parcel and I thought that it does adjoin residential housing. Does it make more sense for housing because there is a high demand for attainable houses? So we decided to take that parcel and ask for rezoning,” she added. 

Eberly told LebTown the organization would like to build over 100, two-story, two- and three-bedroom units on land owned by LVEDC in the business park in North Lebanon Township.

“A sketch design that I have calls for 110 units … attached units,” Eberly said, adding that there’s a lack of attainable housing throughout the Lebanon Valley. “There’s an income scale for that. We haven’t got to that part yet but there’s an income scale.”

If the parcel is rezoned by North Lebanon Township officials, one thing is certain. 

“What we don’t want is for these to become rentals. We don’t want people purchasing them and then renting them to others,” Eberly said, adding that the goal is to provide housing for people to be owner/occupants.

She highlighted a need for housing that was listed in the 2023 Housing Needs Assessment Study conducted by the Lebanon County Coalition to End Homelessness.

Read More: New study highlights countywide housing problems, provides potential solutions

“Because if you look at this inventory that I think Nikki (Gray) helped put together through the Community Health Council, inventory right now is really limited. This was maybe a couple years ago but in that price range from the 200 to 250 (thousand) there was only one house available for sale at that time,” Eberly said. “Now if you look in the 300 and up you know and a lot of the builders are building the more expensive homes because of the cost of supplies and everything.”

Eberly and LVEDC board member and retired businessman Larry Bowman know it is an uphill battle to make the project a reality given the costs associated with home construction.

“We’re thinking if we can hit that market right here and you know it could be challenging because we’re looking at two-story townhouses and we’re not sure if that price point will be there,” Eberly said.

“As I chatted with Nikki Gray the other day, it’s gonna be a big, big challenge. We don’t know if we can do it or not. We’re hoping to possibly do it since EDC owns the land, so hopefully we can maybe subsidize the purchase of the land,” Bowman said. “I’m not saying we’ll give the development the land for free, but possibly we would take a haircut on the sale of it.”

LVEDC is considering other options, too. 

“Also, we’re looking for any potential funding that’s out there in programs. I did talk to a local businessman already in regards to whether there’s a possibility that we can find some local interested donors that might participate in making some donations, contributions, possibly some loans, whether it be short-term, long-term,” Bowman said. “I think we’re gonna look to throw whatever we can on the wall and see what sticks, what works.”  

Eberly has pursued another avenue. 

“I’ve met with Dan Lyons with the redevelopment authority, and there’s a first-time homeowner program. The state’s getting into more housing and looking at different ways that they can be creative and, you know, help the community as well,” she said. “So there’s some other programs out there.”

Eberly noted that commonwealth officials are exploring incentive programs through the Department of Community and Economic Development to spur home construction. She cited a study that says Pennsylvania will need an additional 690,000 housing units by 2040. 

“There’s talk about the state starting to incentivize. If you’ve read their 10-year plan, they’re talking about (home) building in there as well,” she added.  

“We are aware that there are some programs with the state and the banking system where they get incentives or credits by participating in some of these activities. But once again, we’re not in a position to go that direction yet,” Bowman said. 

He provided some insight into the numbers he’s already crunched concerning the purchase of a home in both the $250,000 and $300,000 price range. 

Bowman said a $280,000 home with a $20,000 down payment at 6% interest over 30 years,  along with PMI (private mortgage insurance), homeowner’s insurance, and taxes, would cost a homeowner a mortgage payment of over $2,200 per month. 

“Let’s say around $2,200 a month, you know, and that’s really pretty high. And if we took it at $250,000 with $20 (thousand) down and the same terms, it was like $1,700. Now that’s a little more obtainable, but if you’re a single income, that requires a pretty good job. If it’s a double-income family, that’s a little easier to hit,” he said. 

The 2023 study, Bowman and Eberly noted, included home price ranges in Lebanon County from a low of around $100,000 to a high of approximately $400,000. There was a singular glaring fact that was an eye-opener for both of them.

“The range between ($250,000) and $300,000, at that time, there was only one house listed for sale. So what we’re thinking a little bit is, that is really, really, really the potential sweet spot,” Bowman said, adding that he doesn’t know if they can get there. “We have a lot of work ahead to try to get there.”

The lack of homes in the $250,000 to $300,000 price range is driving this initiative, both said. 

“We’d like these for a family of two, three, or four to live there. Once again, I guess every time you add a bedroom, you’re gonna add substantial dollars. I think to make it worthwhile, I think a three-bedroom, two-story home would probably be the most efficient,” Bowman said. “For economies, maybe we’ll have to bring some in for two bedrooms and maybe we can sell them at, let’s just say, 250 (thousand) and maybe the three bedroom at 300 (thousand). I don’t know. We’re very, very early in the stage.”

Although the project is in the early stages, Bowman said the project will require the community to make a new community happen.

“We have got to work with a developer, builders, bankers, and local business people. I don’t know about nonprofits. Hopefully, we can get some people to throw some money at this. I don’t know, financing, we talked about short-term financing, long-term financing. We talked about leasing the land to the homeowner versus them buying that, which might bring down their mortgage. So again, this is in the early stage,” he added.

For now, rezoning is the LVEDC’s focus.

Read More: LVEDC works to enhance business opportunities in the Lebanon Valley

“We did apply for rezoning, and we have some hurdles to get over, some paperwork to get done to finalize that request. And until we get the rezoning, we really can’t proceed. We can’t commit,” Bowman said. “We’ll find out in the next few months what North Lebanon Township, well, the citizens’ and also the township’s supervisors’ feelings are on this.”

Bowman said the land plot is ideal for residential development over using it for industry. 

“It’s really nice land to develop for homes. It’s an odd configuration where you can, you know, put townhouses, a group of townhouses throughout and fit in the corners where commercially, industrially, it would be a little more of a challenge,” he added.

Other than this project, Eberly said the corporation is interested in development properties elsewhere – although it doesn’t currently own any additional land. Purchasing land would raise the cost of doing business. She said she had a conversation with Lebanon Mayor Sherry Capello about redeveloping parts of the city, potentially a block at a time. 

As far as the potential for other projects, Eberly noted that Scranton is turning old industrial buildings into apartments, adding that while that is a fabulous thing, that almost all of those units are rentals. 

LVEDC officials, however, aren’t opposed to potentially pursuing housing needs elsewhere in Lebanon County. 

“Wouldn’t it be great to build a coalition of people that want and have that mindset that they want people to have an attainable home and be willing to partner in that somehow,” Eberly said.  “Whether it be some of the residential redevelopers … and maybe like, you know, partner with Habitat (for Humanity) and and other organizations out there that have the same philosophy.”

While that is a future dream, first things first: the property at Hanford Drive, which Eberly said is the organization’s primary focus now.

“I think people need to look at a longer term vision in five, 10, 20 years,” Eberly said. “Do you want to just continue seeing industrial growth and have no homes to support it? You will have to take up more agricultural lands for (residential) development. I just think that this ties into having a smart growth plan for the county and that’s what I’m hoping comes out of the comprehensive plan. Townships will start working together and say, ‘We’re not to continue without a solidified plan that people are willing to get behind and support.’” 

If rezoning is approved and the housing project moves forward, Eberly said groundbreaking could occur in about one year. 

“It’s ambitious and it might take longer, but why wait?” she said “I mean, I think we could probably get the rezoning within like a four- or five-month period and we don’t really want to pull the trigger to talk about how we want to develop it until we know we can have the rezoning so we’re not just spinning our wheels.”

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