MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown Land Reuse & Preservation Agency is under contract on multiple parcels in lower Greenmont situated between Pennsylvania and Decker avenues.
But there’s an “if” involved, and the “if” involves money.
During the agency’s most recent meeting, the body settled on $600,000 as the amount it will request from the city in its forthcoming 2025-26 budget.
That would match the original $600,000 in American Rescue Plan Act money provided to the agency to address problem properties along Pennsylvania Avenue.
“All said and done, we have $249,936 left from ARPA funds. That left us a little bit short of what we thought we had. So, from all of the properties that we are under contract on, we are still short $504,000 and some change,” LRPA Chair Jessica McDonald explained.
The majority of that $504,000 shortfall is tied to the stretch of parcels mentioned above, which run from the split of Pennsylvania and Decker avenues through an undeveloped, wooded area that essentially divides the upper and lower sections of Pennsylvania.
“So there’s some area in there that’s kind of steep, but you could work with it and, most of it, I think, will be pretty good. We like the idea because it’s got green space on the back side. It’s next to the rail trail. We feel like it could be some really nice housing if we do it right,” McDonald said. “All of those deals are contingent upon funding, but if we want to do this project as we’ve envisioned it, then yes, that’s where we are.”
The project McDonald mentions is the assemblage of property in a once heavily blighted area that can be packaged and sold to a developer of attainable housing.
“Honestly, we don’t have a specific thing in mind and we don’t have a specific developer or organization in mind yet either. Our thinking is people don’t build affordable housing because you’re not financially able to do so,” McDonald said. “We’re just trying to put something together. We don’t know the particulars of how it’s going to work out, but we know it’s important to accumulate some land. This neighborhood is a little down and out right now, but it has a ton of potential.”
Serving as both backdrop and backstop for the LRPA’s funding request is a $2 million federal earmark coming to the city specifically to address lower Greenmont.
According to Robyn Hess, the city’s grant coordinator, the funds will be used for land acquisition, blight removal and demolition, and possibly the construction of low-to-moderate income housing.
In other words, exactly what the agency has been doing.
“They are going to allow us to work with them to help decide how that gets spent,” McDonald said. “In February, we’ve got a planned retreat for the land reuse agency. We’re going to have that facilitated by Chris Fletcher, who used to work with the city and now works for Urban Design Ventures.”
Fletcher previously served as the city’s planning director.
