$62M plan to push revitalization explored
POTTSTOWN >> It could cost more than $62 million over the next eight years to keep the borough’s current revitalization sustained and expanded a nationally recognized institute has concluded after a week’s study of Pottstown.
The Urban Land Institute, a 72-year-old think tank with 4,500 members that has made previous recommendations for the revitalization of Pottstown, was in town again last week and made its recommendations at an Oct. 25 presentation to the 95 “stakeholders” interviewed to help the consultants reach their conclusions.
(Full disclosure, reporter Evan Brandt was among those interviewed.)
The consultants were comprised of city planners, economic development professionals, architects and Realtors.
Sponsored by the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation, the borough, the school district and Tower Health, the report’s authors were charged with:
• Identifying a “catalytic project” that could help further drive revitalization forward;
• A strategy for job growth and enabling;
• A “dynamic housing strategy” for both current residents and to attract a workforce;
• As well as the financial strategies to pay for it all.
It was, as panel chair Mike Higbee
put it, “a lot to get done in a week.”
‘A Difficult Hand’
In addition to interviews, the consultants were also provided a tour of the borough and conducted many hours of research on past revitalization projects and Pottstown’s industrial and commercial history, what Higbee, who works in economic development in Indianapolis, called “a 360-degree picture of Pottstown.”
It became clear, he said “that Pottstown has been dealt a difficult hand,” which leaders could take lying down “or stand up and move forward together in one direction.”
“It’s clear you have limited resources available, so any efforts have to be deliberate and planned,” Higbee said. “You will have to be efficient and focused in order to have progress.”
According to the preliminary report, Pottstown must:
• Improve, upgrade, and build new infrastructure;
• Prepare residents for living wage jobs; • Invest in education; • Stabilize, renovate, and diversify housing stock;
• Clearly define its role as a regional hub;
After getting input from the community about how to prioritize Pottstown’s needs, that may mean leaving some priorities unaddressed, warned panel member James Hardy, deputy major of Akron, Ohio.
“In Akron, we ended up picking four things — increasing third grade reading scores, improving the financial environment, tackling the opioid epidemic and getting students career and college-ready,” he said. “You get input from the community, but you can’t do everything all at once. At some point you have to make a decision, and while everyone may not agree with it, at least they can respect the process.”
Getting Data, Input and Buy-In
Getting that feedback and buy-in from the community is key to a successful effort, said Brittany Campagna, president of Nashville-based Inner City Investments.
“You have to stay unified and Pottstown lacks a unified vision for economic development,” Campagna said. “You need one vision to drive Pottstown forward and everyone has to buy in on it.”
To accomplish that means gathering input and data from as many different facets of Pottstown as possible, Campagna explained, and to do that means hiring an outside agency to generate a needs assessment and use Pottstown Area Industrial Development (PAID) to identify who should participate.
The information gathered should be used to form a cohesive mission, that becomes a plan with measurable goals, she said.
One community that followed a similar path was one with a similar past as Pottstown, Elkhart, Indiana, which built technological infrastructure to attract a growing skilled workforce by focusing on public transportation, diversified housing, creative educational opportunities, familial support systems and celebrating its environmental assets, Campagna said.
Coordinating Economic and Workforce Development
Given that Pottstown is largely built out, “it’s unlikely Pottstown will grow out of this problem,” said Hardy. Therefore, the best strategy is to improve what’s here to attract better jobs, and that means “a community-wide workforce initiative,” he said.
The Urban Land Institute Consultants suggest that job be assigned to the Tri-County Community Network, “which already has the capacity” to do the task, he said.
That means engaging existing businesses about what kind of job training they need done, as well as identifying jobs of the future and training students for them, whether that be at the Pottstown campus of Montgomery County Community College or at the Career Technology Center at Pottstown High School, which Hardy described as a valuable asset and “career differentiator.”
In addition to preparing students to work for others, the borough’s educational partners must also begin educating students to work for themselves and provide work for others. Many local businesses are started by local people and other than SCORE, there are not many opportunities for students to learn how to be entrepreneurs and be their own boss, he said.
In addition to starting programs to attract business ideas to Pottstown, a new business incubator would also help support such efforts, the consultants said.
Pottstown also suffers from a lack of coordination among those doing the work of economic development, and the recommendation is to define PAID as “the point of contact” for new businesses interested in Pottstown and for PAID to ensure information is proactively shared with all those doing economic development work.
Pottstown housing stock can be difficult to sell or rent, said Emma Littlejohn,
“At some point you have to make a decision, and while everyone may not agree with it, but at least they can respect the process.” — James Hardy, Akron deputy mayor
president of a Realty com pany in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Many of the homes are older and suffer from deferred maintenance. Also, Pottstown suffers from high property taxes and has a perception problem that means it is “not a community of choice,” Littlejohn.
Pottstown needs a mix of restored older homes and new construction, a complete inventory of homes, a streamlining of the code and inspection process and must “market its affordability,” she said.
She also recommends the establishment of a physical “housing resource center” in a prominent location downtown where potential buyers and developers could access the housing inventory directory; find market and belowmarket housing investment opportunities; obtain a development and redevelopment guideline and also look for blighted property redevelopment opportunities from the borough and Pottstown Land Bank.
Catalyst Projects
The consultants had several proposals for larger-scale projects that could help build revitalization momentum.
One larger such example is a sports complex in the eastern portion of Keystone Boulevard, near the intersection with College Drive and within sight of the Route 100 overpass.
The borough should also take advantage of the recreation resources of the Colebrookdale Railroad, the Carousel at Pottstown, Pottsgrove Manor and Memorial Park by developing the streetscape along King Street and strengthening the pedestrian connection between there, downtown and Riverfront Park, said Jeremy Hurlbutt, master planner of the Prince George’s County Planning Department in Maryland.
Also, the former Hess gas station site, at the intersection with College Drive and South Hanover Street, should be developed and more attention paid the southern gateway entrance to town over the Hanover Street bridge, he said.
Marketing the borough
San Francisco-based architect Donna Schumacher said the borough does not have a clear marketing strategy, overlooks significant assets its marketing must overcome a negative perception of Pottstown.
She recommended a “clear, concise and unified message which aligns with Pottstown’s mission and economic goals, paired with an “asset map,” and market it through social media.
That marketing effort must first determine who is to be reached. So the target audience should be defined to align with mission and economic development goals,” Schumacher said.
The message to the business audience should be to attract future investors; the message to the retail audience could engage and entice sports and entertainmentbased business patrons; the message to the residential market should attract new people; and the message to the community itself, should be aimed at inspiring and coalescing the community in its joint efforts, she said.
Leadership in the borough
The Urban Land Institute panelists said while there is a will among borough leaders to collaborate, they are not clear on the way to do it.
“There is a lack of efficiency and effectiveness to decision-making,” they wrote in their report.
“You need to have some hard conversations about where your money is going now and if you, as a community, are happy with the outcomes,” said Hardy.
“The leadership structure is amorphous and there is a culture of ‘silos,’” or everyone working within their own area, unaware of what others may be doing, said Hardy.
And that results in confusion for investors. “What we heard over and over is it’s hard to do business in Pottstown,” said Hardy. “It’s not intentional, but there is a mishmash of contradictory policies and you need to ask yourselves, ‘how do we become the borough of yes?’”
Kyle Talente of RKG Associates in Alexandria, Va. said many of the business leaders they spoke with said “working with the borough has gotten better, but there is still a ways to go.”
“You want to be the place for entrepreneurs to come because it’s easy to do business here,” said Hardy.
Hardy suggested the borough ask for help from some of the many top-flight business schools within 50 miles of the borough in outlining the best practices for attracting investors.
“It should be easy to know who to call and how to invest,” said Hardy.
Speaking of Where the Money Goes ...
The physical improvements called for in the report, which will be issued in a more complete form in January, comprises the bulk of the costs outlined in what Higbee called a “back of the napkin budget.”
The consultants estimated $61 million, of which $25 million would come from local sources.
One-time expenses, like hiring a marketing firm and other items, add up to about $740,000 of which about $495,000 would likely come from local sources.
The final $520,000 in expenses would be ongoing, paying for the increased staff the consultants recommend at PAID and the housing center. About $239,000 of that would probably have to be generated locally.
Pottstown should not be shy about putting its own money on the table, Higbee advised.
“You have to invest in yourselves if you expect others to invest in you,” he said.
“It’s a very ambitious agenda for a community,” he acknowledged, adding “community building is a team sport and it won’t happen overnight.”
But he also advised that Pottstown not let fear stand in its way. “Don’t be afraid to fail. Upsetting colleagues and community groups is uncomfortable,” he said. “But if you’re going to make change in the way things get done, it’s going to be a little dirty.”
“It’s clear you have limited resources available, so any efforts have to be deliberate and planned.” — Mike Higbee, ULI panel chair