PAID report shows business activity on the rise in Pottstown
POTTSTOWN >> Borough Council received its annual report from Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc., the borough’s economic development arm, Wednesday night.
And PAID Executive Director Peggy Lee-Clark had good news.
She said during 2018, 14 commercial properties in Pottstown were sold with a cumulative sale price of $2.8 million.
Lee-Clark also informed council the average sale price for a residential property in Pottstown was $111,063, an 11 percent increase over the previous year.
The average price for a commercial property sold in 2018 was $184,500.
She also said in addition to existing businesses which are expanding, two of which were before council last night, another 18 businesses opened in Pottstown in 2018.
They range from manufacturing like Contrast Metals, to office firms like premier data management, to retail stores like Donut NV and health service businesses like Samana Holistic Center.
Lee-Clark also said the “opportunity zones” included in the federal tax reform bill have “attracted a lot of interest,” particularly along the Keystone Boulevard planned development project.
However, for that project to become more viable, Keystone Boulevard must be extended to the Grosstown Road/Route 422 interchange in West Pottsgrove.
There is also interest in a “life sciences hub” for the BB & T building, a project which has obtained initial funding from the state, LeeClark said.
Goals for 2019 including looking at “an update” for the Circle of Progress, which is also in a federal opportunity zone, Lee-Clark said.