At Monday’s Hopewell Township Committee meeting, Administrator/Engineer Paul Pogorzelski noted that the township’s Pennytown Task Force will meet at the municipal building at 7 p.m. March 19 “to
By John Tredrea, Special Writer
At Monday’s Hopewell Township Committee meeting, Administrator/Engineer Paul Pogorzelski noted that the township’s Pennytown Task Force will meet at the municipal building at 7 p.m. March 19 “to preview a set of plans from Conifer Realtry” for the Pennytown site.
The 70-acre Pennytown site is at the junction of Route 31 and Route 654.
Under an agreement with the development firm of Conifer approved unanimously by the Hopewell Township Committee last November, 70 affordable units can be constructed in two-story buildings, no taller than 35 feet, at the site.
Several years ago, the township paid nearly $6 million for the Pennytown tract. No tax revenues were used for the purchase, officials said. The money came from affordable housing fees collected over the years by developers.
After the township bought the site, stores and offices on it were razed. The 70 units eyed for Pennytown would be applied toward the township’s satisfying its state mandate to provide housing for low- and moderate-income residents.
When the deal with Conifer was approved five months ago, Mr. Pogorzelski said it “culminated several months of discussions and interviews” with Conifer and other firms interested in developing the site. Under the agreement, the units will be built on 15 of a 25-acre section of the tract. The township will retain ownership of the remaining 45 acres of the tract. That land can be auctioned in the future for commercial development.
Also, under the agreement, the 70 units will include 14 one-bedroom units, 35 two-bedroom units and 21 three-bedroom units. Conifer will pay a minimum of $300,000 for the property. The amount could be more, depending on how the financing of the project, which is expected to involve the sale of tax credits through the state’s Low Income Housing Tax Credits program, plays out.
And, under the agreement, all units on the first floor of each building must be handicapped-accessible.
Conifer is to utilize a well system on the property to provide potable water for the residents and size the onsite sanitary sewer treatment plant not only for the construction of the affordable units, but for future development on the land the township could auction off.
The township will contribute, on a pro rata basis, the cost of sizing the plant for that future commercial development. Other than that, Conifer will pay all costs of providing potable water and sewage treatment.
Charles Lewis, senior vice president of Conifer, which is based in Mt. Laurel and has been in business 35 years, said his firm has built 13,000 housing units in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio and other states. Three thousand more units are under construction in New Jersey now, he said.

