Hanover Acres
Riverview Terrace
Allentown, Pennsylvania

Leasing Information

Description

• Multi-phase HOPE VI development including:
• Demolition of 1930s public housing
• Construction of all new infrastructure
• 269 new rental units
• 53 new homeownership units, including market rate units
• New community building

Developer
Pennrose Properties

Architect
Wallace, Roberts & Todd, LLC
Philadelphia, PA

General Contractor
Harkins Builders Company, Inc.
Marriottsville, MD

Management
Pennrose Management Company

The Challenge

Hanover Acres/Riverview Terrace was a fairly well-maintained, but functionally obsolescent public housing project built in the 1930s. The major problem was the existing site plan, which cut off the development from the rest of the neighborhood. The project was built on the side of a mountain overlooking the Lehigh River. The topography made it difficult to provide for handicapped accessibility and visitability.

The Solution

Pennrose successfully negotiated the acquisition of a number of off-site properties, which allowed the creation of an entirely new site plan. Internal streets were realigned to provide a physical connection to the rest of the community. The out-of-place barrack-style housing is being replaced with less dense, semi-detached buildings. The scale, the materials, and the architectural styles of the buildings now complement other homes in the neighborhood. As the units are mix of public housing, affordable rental, affordable homeownership and market rate homeownership. The revitalized Hanover Acres will be a truly mixed-income community.

The topographical challenges were overcome through a combination of technology and creative thinking. To get a full understanding of the soil and rock underneath the site, Pennrose undertook a geophysical study, which is similar to taking an X-ray of the ground. By changing location and orientation of the buildings, we were able to remove a number of retaining walls and convert what were formally steep terraces into more gently rolling slopes. This, in turn, permitted the overwhelming majority of the units to be visitable.

The total development cost is over $81 million. Pennrose was able to cobble together a variety of sources, including low-income housing tax credits, HOPE VI, Housing Authority FAF refinancing funds, Redevelopment Capital Assistance Program funds, Department of Community and Economic Development funds, HOME funds, local city funds and conventional debt. Pennrose continues to own, manage and maintain the units at Riverview Terrace.

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