By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer
Somerton residents may soon be able to say “good-bye” to more than two dozen dilapidated, environmentally hazardous buildings on the old Byberry hospital site and “hello” to new homes and corporate offices, according to two state legislators from Northeast Philadelphia.
State Sen. Mike Stack and state Rep. George Kenney announced last week the imminent transfer of 130 acres of the former mental institution, officially known during its operational existence as the Philadelphia State Hospital, from the possession of the state to the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation.
PIDC, a city-affiliated commercial development agency, is expected to market the ground this summer to prospective developers for future use as an age-restricted residential community and a corporate office campus.
Byberry closed its doors for good in 1990 following years of complaints of patient abuse and neglect.
According to Stack (D-5th dist.), the only things standing in the way of the land transfer are the approval of the Senate Rules Committee and the signature of Gov. Edward G. Rendell.
“Once we get the land turned over to PIDC, then it opens the door to look at redeveloping it,” said Stack.
“This really puts us at step one.”
Kenney (R-170th dist.) sponsored the original legislation to approve the land transfer last year. But rather than attempt to have the House bill (H.B. 1583) pass both the House and Senate, Kenney and Stack agreed to have the language added to an existing Senate land transfer bill (S.B. 44).
The original portion of S.B. 44 turns a former state police facility over to a church group. It passed the Senate prior to Kenney’s amendment. The amended version passed the House on June 25.
Kenney insisted that the legislation include a provision to reserve 25 acres of the 130-acre tract as open space, as well as a provision to turn an additional 22 adjacent acres on the south side of Southampton Road into state park land. That parcel will be leased to the Somerton Youth Organization for $1 per year.
As part of the transfer, PIDC must pay to have a former hospital-laundry building removed from the 22-acre parcel. The job is expected to cost $850,000.
“It took a considerable about of time and negotiations to ensure that some of this land will be preserved as open space for the benefit of the community,” Kenney said in a printed statement, “so it’s extremely rewarding to see it all come to fruition.”
The 25 acres of open space will stretch along Carter Road from Southampton Road north to the Poquessing Creek. According to Paul Deegan, senior vice president of PIDC, redevelopment will follow a conceptual plan endorsed by the Somerton Civic Association last November.
That plan called for about 55 acres of homes and about 50 acres dedicated to office space. The offices will be concentrated along Roosevelt Boulevard, while the residential section will span the interior of the 130-acre tract.
“Over the summer, we’re going to be talking to developers and possibly putting out a request for proposals,” Deegan said. “We’ll have them look at the conceptual plan proposed by Somerton Civic.”
PIDC has dismissed retail and industrial uses for the ground.
“It’s offices,” Deegan said. “It could be something like the Neshaminy Interplex (a nearby office complex) or one big user like Crown Cork & Seal.”
That comes as good news to Mary Jane Hazell, president of the Somerton Civic Association, although she remains wary of the open space provision included in the deal.
“It’s good if somebody takes care of it. But who’s going to take care of it? That’s the thing,” Hazell said.
PIDC will be responsible for arranging for the maintenance of the open space. That responsibility could be passed along to an eventual developer.
Residents of Carter Road lobbied strongly for the open space.
Hazell remains confident of PIDC’s intention to approve any redevelopment plans with the community. The SCA and the quasi-city agency previously negotiated conditions for commercial/light industrial development along existing Hornig Road. That ground also was once part of the Byberry campus.
“Working with them before, everything we asked and demanded of them, they did,” the civic leader said.
Primarily, the community sought to prevent retail uses and threats to the natural environment in the Hornig Road development.
PIDC’s first concern for the 130-acre tract is to clear the land of the many abandoned, asbestos-containing hospital buildings that still stand there but are literally falling apart. That part of the project will cost an estimated $15 million, if not more.
In fact, figuring that the ground is worth about $75,000 an acre by Deegan’s estimate, the cost of the cleanup is greater than the inherent value of the developable land.
PIDC has applied for federal assistance to remove the remaining buildings.
According to Stack, the state has not expressed any intent to subsidize the cleanup, though Kenney previously secured funding from then-Gov. Mark Schweiker to remove some buildings on the site.
“PIDC feels confident that they’re going to be able to raise the money (for demolition),” Stack said.
According to Deegan, PIDC has a revolving fund from money generated by earlier redevelopment projects that could be tapped initially. Also, income could be generated from the sale of the property to the selected developers.
The land has been included on the state’s list of Keystone Opportunity Zones so that any commercial development there will benefit from business and property tax breaks. And people who move into new homes there would get property tax breaks under a city incentive program. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com