Following Up: 2022 Housing Forum, "Decoding Housing Proformas"
Posted December 7, 2022
The Chester County Planning Commission's annual Housing Forum was held on Tuesday, November 15, bringing more than 50 attendees together at the Westminster Presbyterian Church in West Chester and via Zoom to discuss the costs of building A+ Homes in Chester County.
This year's forum, titled "Decoding Housing Proformas," kicked off with a warm welcome from CCPC's Executive Director, Brian O'Leary, along with the Chester County Department of Community Development's Deputy Director, Shaun Bollig.
CCPC's Senior Housing & Economic Planner, Libby Horwitz, introduced Ryan Bailey of Pennrose LLC, who provided a developer's perspective about affordable and attainable housing, including what municipalities can do to promote them. Following Bailey's presentation, CCPC's Senior Community Planner, Chris Patriarca, introduced three local panelists who would be discussing A+ Homes in further detail, in addition to Bailey. They included Eli Kahn of EKahn Development, Tracy Patches of the Church Housing Corp., and Kevin Gore of the West Chester Borough.
Some key points from the panel discussion included the importance of zoning for additional housing options to make projects financially feasible; zoning changes such as reduced parking minimums, removing lot size requirements, zoning for mixed-uses to encourage employer supported housing, and allowing additional units per acre; as well as the rising costs of housing and challenges such as construction costs and land value increasing.
CCPC's annual Housing Forum provides a great opportunity to share information and learn about best practices regarding housing in Chester County. Topics addressed include the need for affordably priced housing, the A+ Homes initiative, housing for an aging population, and more.
View the 2022 Housing Forum recording and other follow up information.