Category: Housing

LointerHOME does it again!

Photo courtesy of Betsy Barron
I attended LointerHOME’s open house at 467 Farmington Avenue last Thursday and figured I’d blog about it this week… Then I got word this past Tuesday night that the home was already under contract for above the asking price! Looks like LointerHOME’s reputation is growing by leaps and bounds, as well it should. I thought I’d feature this project because it’s a great example of the opportunities in Pottstown for sound real estate investment in homeownership for developers who do quality work.

LointerHOME specializes in the renovation of distressed and foreclosed homes. They work in Miami, Los Angeles, West Chester and Pottstown, with their previous Pottstown project being a foreclosed Edwardian townhome on King Street. Their next project will take them to 426 King Street. The Farmington Avenue home and 426 King were acquired from the Borough after the Borough came into possession via free-and-clear tax sales.

The home at 467 Farmington was marketed by Lori Vanderbilt of Coldwell Banker Hearthside in Collegeville. The gorgeous photos at http://467farmington.epropertysites.com/ were taken by Betsy Barron, a fine art, freelance photographer from Chester County.

MOSAIC Community Land Trust & Gallery on High put out call to artists

MOSAIC, The Pottstown Community Land Trust and The Gallery on High are proud to announce an open call to artists for a juried logo design competition and exhibit.  The winning design will be selected as the logo for The Pottstown Community Land Trust, and $500 will be awarded to the artist. Submissions may be in 2D or 3D in any media; all submissions must include a mosaic-styled image and must be original to the artist submitting.

Pottstown is in the midst of revitalization. Its history is tied to the river, the steel industry, Mrs. Smith’s Pies and manufacturing. Charming 18th & 19th century architecture lines its streets. The ARTS and INNOVATION are key to the sustainability of Pottstown’s renaissance. Artists’ designs should bring out the many meanings of “mosaic” for Pottstown:

  • bringing together a multi-faceted, multi-hued community;
  • putting broken shards together to create a thing of beauty;
  • and recognizing the rough-around-the-edges nature ofPottstown’s past.

In exchange for the prize of $500 and recognition in a press release, the winning artist will relinquish his/her rights to the chosen image to the Pottstown Community Land Trust for them to use as their logo in their branding and marketing efforts. The show will be exhibited the week of September 2, 2011, and the winner will be announced on September 7 at a reception being held from 7-9PM. Other important dates, deadlines and entry forms are shown below.

After the announcement of the winner, The Gallery on High will invite the public to vote on their favorite “Mosaic” image. The “People’s Favorite” will be announced at Pottstown’s OPEN DOORS EVENT on September 10 at 2PM at the Gallery on High.

MOSAIC, The Pottstown Community Land Trust is a local non-profit corporation dedicated to increasing affordable homeownership opportunities inPottstown, developing a community garden at 423 Chestnut Street, and empowering residents to participate in the improvement of their own neighborhoods. Collaboration is the key to their efforts to create long-lasting change, and they are already partnering with local businesses, volunteers, Pottstown School District, Pottstown Borough and other community organizations, such as The Gallery and Genesis Housing Corporation. For the past six months, MOSAIC has been working with a nationally-recognized expert in community land trusts, thanks to a grant from National Penn Bank. For more information, check out their website: PottstownCLT.wordpress.com

Important info for MOSAIC artists

Registration Form

Inventory Sheet

Drop off of art/entries:  Monday, August 29 from 11 AM-1 PM and from 6-8 PM

Exhibit dates: September 2 – 10 at The Gallery on High

Reception:  Wednesday, September 7 from 7-9 PM

Pick-up of art:  Monday, September 12 from 6-7:30 PM or Tuesday September 13 from 11 AM-1 PM

Two important community meetings tonight

Two meetings tonight will provide key information on various aspects of revitalization and serve as proof of the new collaborative spirit taking hold in Pottstown.

#1  For anyone interested in the status of the Pottstown Area Industrial Development corporation (PAID), the entity responsible for economic development in the Borough, there will be a meeting to announce their new board members this evening at 6 pm at the library on the The Hill School campus. The reconstituted PAID board is an outgrowth of a recommendation by the Urban Land Institute in a 2009 report for the Borough to create a single entity for redevelopment and revitalization. See The Mercury’s article here.

#2 If you want to know more about what’s happening in the Washington Street corridor and how you can get involved, Genesis Housing is holding a meeting called “Let’s Talk” at 7 pm tonight at the Ricketts Center, where you can learn about new projects and help design a community mural. The Ricketts Center is at  640 Beech Street, Pottstown, PA 19464. Community members will be asked for their ideas for a new mural at the Chestnut Street Park and to help to set priorities and develop future projects. An update on Washington Street neighborhood projects,  including the new community garden and the Science in the Park event, will be discussed.  Community concerns about this area and other sections of the Pottstown will be explored with the hope of setting priorities for future projects.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the proposed mural in the Washington St. neighborhood will speak volumes on the tenacity and determination driving the revitalization of Pottstown.  Genesis Housing Corporation, The Gallery on High and Citizens for Pottstown’s Revitalization are in collaboration to develop a mural at the park located at Washington and Chestnut Streets.  The artistic coordinators, Cathy Paretti and Erika Hornburg-Cooper of the Gallery on High have selected Robert Louis Williams, an accomplished local artist to design and create the proposed park mural.  Let’s talk about the different types of murals and what this mural should look like – this is the chance for your input!

Judith Memberg, Executive Director of Genesis Housing Corporation, will provide an update on their Washington Street neighborhood housing developments including the rehabilitation of vacant properties for new home buyers and the homeowner rehab programs.  Information about the Pottstown Homeowner Rehab Program will be provided.

Genesis Housing Corporation serves Montgomery County as a non-profit community development organization and is dedicated to the development of affordable housing and to the education of consumers on housing and financial issues.  For more information, visit their website at www.genesishousing.org or call 610-275-4357.

First Suburbs meeting: Help make Pottstown’s voice be heard

The Southeastern Pennsylvania First Suburbs Project is holding a public meeting Thursday, April 14 at 7:30 pm with Housing and Urban Development Region III Administrator Jane Vincent to call for fairness in regional housing policy.

The Statement of Purpose on their website declares:

“The Southeastern Pennsylvania First Suburbs Project is a regional coalition of community leaders from developed suburbs that have joined together to harness their communities’ power by directly engaging citizens to affect policies and practices that will lead to the stabilization and revitalization of their communities.”

The First Suburbs Project has galvanized communities in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. Pottstown is a member of this coalition and will be taking a bus to the meeting, which will be held at the JP Mascaro and Sons Building in Audobon. To get on the bus, which will leave Borough Hall at 6:30 pm, call the Borough at 610-970-6511.

To read some prior blog posts about the challenges facing Pottstown and other First Suburbs, check out the following links:

Community Gardens & First Suburbs – the start of a (long) conversation

First Suburbs: Affordable Housing Notes from NJ

First Suburbs – Challenges of Rental Housing

First Suburbs, Keim Street Bridge & Keystone Blvd. Extension

Free housing counseling workshops offered

Genesis Housing Corporation will hold FREE workshops on Tuesday evenings, January 18th, January 25th and February 1st, from 7:00 to 9:00 PM, at the PDIDA Offices, 139 East High Street, Pottstown, PA 19464. National Penn Bank is sponsoring these workshops and is offering gift cards to anyone who pre-registers and attends all three workshops.

The workshops are designed to help to:

·         Understand Credit — Information on credit scores, improving your scores, re-establishing credit, dealing with debt.  Workshop participants can obtain a free credit report with scores (Tuesday, January 18, 2011).

·         Money Management – Information on preparing realistic budgets that are more than just monthly bills, prioritizing spending in tough times and understanding how current spending impacts future financial options (Tuesday, January 25, 2011).

·         Home Buying Basics — Information the home buying process — finding a realtor, home inspections, Agreements of Sale, mortgages and first-time homebuyer grant programs (Tuesday, February 1, 2011).

Nikki Holcroft, an award winning and certified housing counselor, will teach the workshops. Ms. Holcroft has more than twenty-five years experience working as a housing counselor, mortgage banker and community lender. Ms. Holcroft has worked with Genesis Housing Corporation since 2001 and teaches monthly classes on credit, money management and the home buying process. Ms. Holcroft also provides individual housing counseling sessions to help clients achieve their financial goals.  Ms. Holcroft has worked with families to restructure their mortgages, avoid foreclosures and reduce their debts.

Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling Genesis Housing Corporation at 610-275-4357 or online at www.genesishousing.org. Registration forms can also be obtained at National Penn Bank, High and Franklin Streets, Pottstown, PA or by calling National Penn Bank at 610-327-0400.

(To download a flyer regarding the workshops, click here: Housing Counseling flyer.)

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