Calcon Gardens
Darby Township, Pennsylvania
Leasing Information

Description

• Razed severely blighted 1940s project  
• Redeveloped 3.5 acre community
• Seven   2-story buildings
• Fifty 3-bedroom town homes and flats
• Affordable for families
• Placed in service in 2001
• Green community

Developer
Pennrose Properties

Architect
The Knabb Partnership
Exton, PA

General Contractor
Harkins Builders, Inc.
Marriotsville, Maryland

Management
Delaware County Housing Authority

The Challenge

In response to a Delaware County Housing Authority request, Pennrose performed a housing assessment of a number of The Authority's twelve Public Housing Projects.   Calcon Gardens, a barrack-style1940s HUD housing project on 3.5 acres was suffering from its age and an increasing housing abandonment and vacancy that had contributed to a net decline in the quality and quantity of housing accessible to the County's low and moderate-income populations.   The Pennrose assessment included a master plan for remedying the deterioration.   It also included a creative financial plan that minimized The Authority's capital outlay and leveraged other resources.

The Solution

To facilitate the Calcon Garden redevelopment, Pennrose assembled a mixed finance package that included Low Income Tax Credits and other complex financial structures.   This made possible the demolition of the squalid housing project. In its place, the development team designed and constructed 50 three-bedroom town homes and flats upon a completely new infrastructure of newly paved streets, storm water systems, utilities, sidewalks, lighting, landscaping, and rear-parking.   Each home, affordable for families, includes three bedrooms, one and one half baths, a fully equipped kitchen, dining room, living room, washer and dryer hook-ups, and central heating and air conditioning.   Completed in 2001, Pennrose delivered this development, which employed the latest in energy-saving building technologies, on-time and on-budget.   A new community center   constructed by Darby Township on neighboring property and a comprehensive social services program complements this sustainable quality-built community.

The redevelopment of Calcon Gardens underscores the development team's expertise in working with local Housing Authorities to improve their stock of affordable housing through the application of mixed finance solutions.

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