More than 700 housing units planned for part of former Norristown hospital land in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Amid the nationwide affordable housing shortage, a new project underway in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, could help ease the demand.
On Monday, the Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority agreed to sell 68 acres of land on the former Norristown State Hospital campus to Pinnacle Realty Development Company for $4.7 million. The property will be the home of a new neighborhood called the Preserve at Stony Creek.
"The Preserve at Stony Creek represents more than just a development," Norristown Municipal Council President Rebecca Smith said. "It represents Norristown's future."
The neighborhood will include 453 townhomes and 288 apartment units. There will also be 36,000 square feet of supermarkets and restaurants, along with 202,000 square feet of tech or office space.
The new townhomes are expected to cost between $300,000 and $500,000 each.
The project, touted as the largest redevelopment project in Norristown's history, is expected to generate tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue.
"We said in our proposal that we want to help Norristown buzz," Anthony Maras, founder and principal of Pinnacle Realty Development Company. "Just like a bee hive is busy and active. That's what we want to bring back to Norristown."
The commonwealth of Pennsylvania demolished eight buildings, mostly vacant, to prepare the land for development, according to Jayne Musonye, Norristown's director of planning and municipal development. The state transferred ownership of the land to the Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority in November 2022.
There will be a fence and landscaping barrier separating the neighborhood from the Norristown State Hospital campus, which spans 225 acres. The hospital provides inpatient mental health services.
It could take up to two years to break ground because of the state permitting process, Maras said. Construction is expected to be complete by 2032.
"When you're talking about a project of this scale, of this complexity, success is only possible, through partnership," Aliyah Stanger Furman, executive director of the Montgomery County Redevelopment Authority, said.
