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Redevelopment Authority Board

September 18th RDA Meeting Is Cancelled

About

The Redevelopment Authority of the City of York (RDA) is tasked with eliminating blighted properties in the city of York. Their purpose is to demolish or renovate properties in order to restore them so that (a) they comply with building codes and are no longer a blighting influence in their neighborhoods, (b) they again become economic assets which contribute to the City’s tax base and (c) that they advance the City’s plan for the appropriate development and use of the neighborhood involved.

The staff of the City of York’s Department Economic and Community Development oversee and administers daily RDA activities. The role of the RDA is to responsibly maintain and market its residential, commercial and mixed-use development properties in the City of York. We aim for responsible redevelopments to not only increase the City tax base, but to support community and economic development in all city neighborhoods. The RDA is audited annually as part of the City of York’s annual audit and the financial reports are part of public record.

The RDA acquires property through donation, tax sale, purchase and condemnation. The majority of the RDA’s holdings consist of vacant grass lots, many of which are clustered together. Occasionally, as the circumstance is presented, the RDA acquires vacant structures for which it seeks redevelopment proposals. To redevelop and rehabilitate blighted areas and to prevent property deterioration in other areas. The RDA has express authority and power, within areas set by the Planning Commission, to investigate, plan, purchase property, make contracts for demolition and rebuilding, and provide parks and recreation areas. The Redevelopment Authority has properties for sale for the purpose of homeownership and elimination of blight conditions in the city of York.

Urban Redevelopment Law

Refer to 35 P.S. 1701-1705 et. seq. as amended by Act 137 of 2004 (HB2027/PN4051). Act 137 of 2004 regulates that in the case of a 3rd Class City, a majority of the members of the Authority shall be residents of the city and the remainder may be non-residents who own and operate a business in the city in which the authority operates.

Meetings

Meets 3rd Wednesday at 4:00 p.m.

City Council Chambers
101 S. George St.
York, PA 17401

Vision

To become a community where:

  1. Diverse businesses prosper
  2. Development and niche districts grow
  3. Talent is encouraged, retained and recruited
  4. Neighborhoods revitalized

Mission

To create conditions encouraging city-wide development through:

  1. Project management and public-private partnerships;
  2. Property planning, acquisitions, marketing and agreements;
  3. Performance-based incentives and loans; and
  4. Small business counseling and training.

Contact Information

Department of Economic Development and
the York City Redevelopment Authority

P: 717-849-2264

Blanda Nace, Office Coordinator
E: BNace@Yorkcity.org

Click here to stream meetings live & view past meetings
  • 2024 Meeting Dates

    Notice is hereby given that the Redevelopment Authority of the City of York (RDA) will conduct its regular meetings for the transaction of general business on the third Wednesday of every month at 4:00 PM from January 2024 through December 2024 in City Council Chambers, 101 South George Street:

    January 17, 2024 July 17, 2024
    February 21, 2024 August 21, 2024
    March 20, 2024 September 18, 2024
    April 17, 2024 October 16, 2024
    May 15, 2024 November 20, 2024
    June 19, 2024 December 18, 2024

    All are open public meetings to which members of the public are invited to attend.

    Note: If you are a person with a disability and wish to attend these meetings and require any accommodations to participate, please contact Deborah Painter at 717-849-2264. Persons with hearing impairments may contact the Deaf Center at TTD 717-848-6765.

    Masks are required for entrance into City Hall and Council Chambers for all in-person Redevelopment Authority Board meetings.

  • RDA Board Members & Staff

    RDA BOARD MEMBERS

    • Michael J. Black, Chairman – Term expires 4/28/24
    • Aaron Anderson, Vice Chairman – Term expires 4/28/28
    • Joyce Santiago – Term expires 4/28/29
    • Frank Countess, Member – Term expires 4/28/27
    • Hannah Beard (Filled unexpired term of T. Varbares) – Term expires 4/28/2026

    RDA STAFF

    • Blanda Nace, RDA Executive Director/Secretary
      bnace@yorkcity.org
    • Donald B. Hoyt, Solicitor
    • 96 South George St, York, PA 17401
      Phone: (717) 845-3674
  • Disposition Instructions

    The Redevelopment Authority of the City of York(RDA) actively seeks experienced and financially solvent developers to enter into redevelopment contracts for one or more of the blighted, vacant residential properties in its blight repository. Redevelopment Authority staff will evaluate and screen proposals to be presented to the RDA’s five-member board for approval. The Authority’s highest priority is to transfer title of residential properties for single-family home ownership; a disproportionate number of rental property owners that presently operate throughout the City of York drive this goal. The proliferation of absentee landlords has diminished the quality of life in several distressed neighborhoods throughout the community. It is our hope that by making a priority to sell the present stock of blighted homes to those qualified developers expressly interested in deconverting multifamily units back to single family occupancy for home ownership is in the best interest of the community overall. This effort is to help stabilize the surrounding neighborhoods, reduce blight, and increase overall property values.

    If proposals are determined to be of benefit to the neighborhoods in which the blighted, vacant structure sits, redevelopment contracts will be required to begin construction within three months of receiving title and, under most circumstances, must complete the rehabilitation project within 12 months. Further, the RDA requires deed restrictions calling for compliance with the Uniform Construction Code of the City of York. A redevelopment contract with the RDA will obligate the purchaser to compensate the RDA for an amount that approximates, whenever possible, the costs it has incurred in obtaining title to the premises, which is typically the appraised value (in most cases, the RDA has paid for appraisals), plus reasonable legal fees, and a reasonable transaction fee to the RDA.

    Any other intended reuse of a property will be considered on its respective merits and the consideration being offered to the Authority. As such, all proposals are evaluated on how it is directly related to the level of compatibility of the RDA’s stated objectives. Submittals provided to staff should include the following items to be considered a comprehensive proposal. Any deficiencies must be addressed before any proposal is evaluated by staff and subsequently put before the board for consideration.

    • MAI Certified Appraisal using at least two of the common valuation approaches; notably the sales comparison and the income approach.
    • A set of building plans that detail the proposed reuse of the property including any deconversion of multi-tenant properties or changes to the existing layout of a building. *Please note: at this stage these drawings can be preliminary sketches and not full fledged construction documents. The purpose is to clearly illustrate to staff and the Board the scope of work being proposed for the project.
    • Provide a tentative construction schedule of the work to be performed from acquisition, including financing, through Substantial Completion –obtaining a Certificate of Occupancy – and Final Completion.

    The City of York offers gratis pre-development conferences to answer any questions related to the entitlement process (i.e. zoning, planning, building plan review, life safety, and utility infrastructure). All applicants are strongly encouraged to contact the Department of Economic & Community Development’s Bureau of Permits, Planning, & Zoning to avail them of this resource. For more information, please contact Sharee McFadden at smcfadden@gmail.com or 717-849-2248


    Proposal Review & RDA Board Consideration Policy
    The Redevelopment Authority Board will consider projects after city staff issues recommendations based upon due diligence and review. For the RDA board to take formal action, the developer/development team must fulfill all proposal criteria outlined below.

    As with other parcels owned by the RDA, the RDA has five screening criteria, upon which the RDA requires written commitments and written evidence before placing the property in question on the RDA’s monthly agenda for board action. Written proposals must be received fifteen (15) business days prior to the RDA’s next meeting in order for the staff to properly evaluate proposals. Under no circumstances will the RDA’s board vote upon an agenda item having to do with the transfer, sale, or lease of real property unless RDA staff receives fully completed, written responses to the following five criteria:

    1. Full completion of the RDA’s Development Application available online or in hard copy at 101 S. George St., York, PA 17401;
    2. Strength of submitted project plan to be evaluated by staff. Plan must include project scope, budget, architectural/engineer drawings and timeline.  Please note: for option contracts or rights to negotiate, an official project plan is not required, but a conceptual description and budget estimation is;
    3. Written evidence of work experience and/or work products in the category of construction, rehabilitation, or adaptive reuse as proposed in the conceptual plan by the applicant. This can take the form of a summary of qualifications that corresponds with most recent projects completed by the applicant;
    4. Written evidence of financial ability of the applicant to complete the proposed project, including, for example, bank statement/s and/or letter/s from the entity’s bank/s noting the entity’s credit facilities. Provide copies of applicable pre-approval letters and personal or business bank statements. Attach to the back of this application. (i.e., accumulated value of bank accounts and/or line/s of credit) Without evidence, as specifically noted above, this requirement application of finance will not be considered;
    5. Financial consideration proposed in writing (e.g., right to negotiation, or land lease, revenue sharing, and/or building sales agreement).

    The five-member RDA Board reserves the right to decline any proposals. Proposals must be directed to: Secretary, Redevelopment Authority of the City of York, 101 S. George Street, P.O. Box 509, York, Pennsylvania 17405-0509.

RDA Properties Available for Development RFP For Demolition – Wallace & Court Streets RDA Application for Acquisition

Thank you for your interest in developing property in the City of York. The attached list includes  RDA-Owned parcels only. For more information on individual parcels or to find out how to submit a proposal, please contact RDA Specialist Sharee McFadden at smcfadden@yorkcity.org or call 717-849-2248.

RDA Agendas

View current and past editions of the RDA Board Meeting Agendas

RDA Minutes

View current and past editions of the RDA Board Meeting Minutes

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