Redevelopment

The Susquehanna County Housing & Redevelopment Authority has worked on a number of redevelopment projects across Susquehanna County.

The Authority strives to assist homeowners, families and municipalities throughout Susquehanna County with revitalization projects that will help make Susquehanna County a better, safer place to live. Funding comes from various housing and redevelopment grant programs administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), PHFA and PennDot, among others.

Grant Programs & Projects

1. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)

The Susquehanna County Housing and Redevelopment Authority administers the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement Program on behalf of Susquehanna County. The funds are used to assist municipalities with community development and community revitalization projects. Eligible activities include:

  • Clearance
  • Street and road repair
  • Water systems
  • Sanitary sewer systems and connections to the system for low-income residents
  • Public services
  • Removal of architectural barriers
  • Public/community facilities

Municipalities may contact the Redevelopment Authority with potential projects to determine if they are eligible for CDBG funding and other housing grants.

Thompson Sidewalk Replacement In April 2019, the Authority completed a sidewalk replacement project in Thompson that involved the replacement of deteriorated sidewalks that posed a threat to pedestrian safety. Funding from the CDBG made this project possible. See the before and after photos at right.  
sidewalk
sidewalk
floodwall
The TriBoro Municipal Authority Floodwall The TriBoro Municipal Authority Floodwall project (pictured at left) was completed in 2017 using CDBG Disaster Recovery funds, an add-on to the CDBG program. The floodwall was built to prevent damage to the sewer plant after it sustained major damage from the floods in 2006 and 2011.

2. Housing Rehabilitation Program

Thanks to funding from the CDBG and Home Investment Partnership (HOME) programs, the Authority administers a Housing Rehabilitation program for Susquehanna County residents. This program provides deferred loans to low-income homeowners so they can make repairs necessary to bring their property up to local or state code. This loan bears no interest and does not have to be repaid until the property is sold or title is transferred. It shall be secured by a lien on the property repayable to “County of Susquehanna.” Eligible repairs include but are not limited to:

  • Roofs
  • Windows
  • Doors
  • Siding
  • Heating and electrical repairs and upgrades

There is currently an approximate two year waiting list for assistance through our Housing Rehabilitation program. Applicants must be residents of Susquehanna County who own and occupy their homes. Applicant must also have an annual family income that meets the low-income criteria set forth by the federal government. Call us for more information on limits.

3. Transportation Alternatives Grant & Multimodal Grant Programs

Administered by PennDOT, these programs provide funding for projects defined as transportation alternatives. This includes:

  • On- and off-road pedestrian and bicycle facilities
  • Infrastructure projects for improving non-driver access to public transportation and enhanced mobility
  • Community improvement activities
  • Environmental mitigation
  • Trails that serve a transportation purpose
  • Safe routes to school projects
streetscape
Montrose Streetscape project For the Montrose Streetscape project, the Authority added sidewalks for safer pedestrian travel and provided new lighting and trees to enhance the atmosphere of downtown Montrose. This project was funded by the the PennDOT Transportation Alternatives grant. The Redevelopment Authority also   secured funding of $767,000 for streetscape projects in Lanesboro Borough and Montrose Borough as well as funding for sidewalks on Main Street in New Milford Borough.   

4. PHARE Grant Program

The PA Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancements (PHARE) funding is administered by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and comes from Marcellus Shale Impact Fees. Specifically, Act 13 of 2012 allocates certain amounts from the impact fee to the PHARE Fund to address the need for affordable housing in counties that have producing unconventional gas wells. Susquehanna County has received nearly $6 million of PHARE funds since the program started in 2012.

The Hallstead School Demolition Our latest  PHARE-funded project is the demolition of the old Hallstead School, which made way for the building additional affordable housing units in Hallstead. The Housing Authority completed site work after demolition and constructed three duplex-style buildings that will provide a total of six affordable rental units for those over age 55. The duplexes consist  of two small ranch-style homes with a garage.  Recently, the Authority was successful in removing blighted and unsafe factories in New Milford Borough and Forest City Borough to make way for this very popular style of affordable housing on those sites while revitalizing our neighborhoods.
schoolhouse
rehabilitation
    305 Hudson Rehabilitation To the left is a picture of a home the authority will be rehabilitating through the PHARE Grant program, which will allow us to re-sell it to a homebuyer at a reasonable price.

5. And More

In addition to the housing and redevelopment grants mentioned above, the Authority also completes infrastructure and housing projects throughout Susquehanna County thanks to funding from:

  • The Home Investment Partnership (HOME) program
  • The Infrastructure Development Program
  • Other state and federal housing and redevelopment grant programs

Additional Resources

For more information and additional resources about available programs and services: