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Housing & Community | Real Life Stories « Community
Lending Program »
Community Lending Program Success Stories
Comprehensive Plan to Redevelop Reading's Downtown
District
“In redeveloping Reading, community leaders
have concentrated not just on homes, but on broader quality-of-life
issues, like jobs and services and infrastructure. The FHLBank’s
Community Lending Program is an ideal way for financial institutions
like Fulton Bank to help finance many of those community-building
efforts.”
— Jeffrey Peeling, senior vice president,
Fulton Bank
For 20 years, developers had tried to revitalize the former Wyomissing
Club, a historic building in downtown Reading, PA, to no avail.
Finally, in 1999, Phoebe Ministries
— a not-for-profit organization specializing in health care,
housing and support services for older persons throughout eastern
and central Pennsylvania
— completed a major renovation of the vacant building into
58 affordable apartments for lower-income senior citizens. The building
also contains approximately 13,000 square feet of prime commercial
space, which houses tenants such as Neighborhood Housing Services
of Reading.
To make the project viable, Phoebe attracted
$6.5 million of investment from the community by partnering with
Fulton Bank, Commonwealth Bank and the city of Reading. Financing
included a $38,000 below-market-rate loan from the FHLBank’s
Community Lending Program, which was used to significantly lowered
the interest rate on Phoebe’s mortgage.
The Senior Apartments at the Wyomissing Club
project is one part of a comprehensive plan to redevelop Reading’s
downtown district by concentrating on stressed neighborhoods.
In addition to efforts to increase affordable housing for families
and individuals, the city is attracting new businesses, developing
green space, and improving parking and infrastructure. It has
also renovated the historic Rajah Theatre into the Sovereign Performing
Arts Center and constructed a new civic center for sporting events
and conventions. With a diverse population, 40 percent of which
is Hispanic, Reading is working hard to create sustainable viability
throughout the city.
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