Developers tell Coatesville finance committee LERTA needed to make 562‑unit Brandywine View feasible

Developers seeking a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) schedule for the Brandywine View housing project told the Coatesville Area School District finance committee on Sept. 9 that the tax abatement is essential to move the 75‑acre site from long‑standing entitlements into construction.

At the finance committee meeting, developer representatives outlined a fiscal‑impact analysis that projects the development at full buildout would create 562 housing units — about 266 apartments and roughly 300 townhouses — with an assessed value at completion of roughly $53.2 million and a projected 68 public‑school students in full occupancy. David C. Babbitt, the fiscal analyst on the project, told the committee, “So we are projecting a total of about 68 public school students in this development at build out and full occupancy.”

The nut graf: the developer team and city officials say the site is unusually costly to build and that the LERTA would bridge the economics so the project can be constructed. The fiscal model presented shows the school district would experience a short, small deficit in the first four years of the abatement period and a net surplus thereafter; the cumulative 11‑year impact in the analyst’s schedule is a projected net positive for the district.

Details of the proposal and debate David C. Babbitt of David C. Babbitt and Associates LLC walked committee members through a spreadsheet the developer supplied showing three panels of calculations: the proposed unit mix and values, per‑student demographic assumptions, and an 11‑year LERTA increment schedule that phases tax exemption from 0% up to 100% in year 11. Using assessed‑value math and the district’s current millage, Babbitt estimated the total assessed value at buildout at about $53,200,000 and annual real‑estate tax revenue after the LERTA period at approximately $2.24 million.

Babbitt used standard fiscal‑impact methodology — including a Rutgers University study methodology and U.S. Census/American Community Survey proportions for public‑school attendance — to estimate student yield. He told the committee the model projects about 68 public‑school students at full occupancy, and said that even if student counts were materially higher the development still produced net revenue over the medium term.

Board members and staff questioned key assumptions. Committee chair Liz Muirhead said the panel would need time to review the analysis and would not vote on the measure that night: “I think we will need to take some time. We’re not gonna vote on this tonight.” Members questioned whether the methodology — which relies on underlying housing demographics from older census cohorts and a Rutgers‑derived model — reflects present‑day household formation among younger families. One board member observed that the development’s rents and prices may attract commuters and nonlocal households rather than existing city residents.

Timing and LERTA mechanics Officials and the developer also discussed when the LERTA period would begin. A city representative said the LERTA typically begins when a building‑permit application is filed for each building or phase; John Joffe, the project’s developer, confirmed the apartments will be built and occupied before most townhouses and said, “The apartments will come online first and then you sell through the the remainder of the community.” That sequencing matters because phased construction would stage both the revenue and student impacts over multiple years rather than produce the full fiscal effect immediately.

Project scope, affordability and other local issues Gina Gerber, an attorney representing the developer, described the site at 320 Adams Drive as “very challenging” for construction because of steep topography and rock. She said the developer has revised earlier plans downward from about 350 townhouses to roughly 300 to improve feasibility. The developer said 1‑ and 2‑bedroom apartments are proposed; the apartments are planned for rental (the developer intends to own and operate them) while townhouses are to be sold.

Babbitt and the developer provided approximate price and rent figures used in the model: townhouse market values ranged from about $331,000 to $403,000 depending on unit size; assessed apartment values were modeled from regional comparables (averaging roughly $61,000–$64,000 assessed per unit). The presentation noted one‑bedroom rents around $1,700 per month and two‑bedroom rents around $2,000 per month per the developer’s pro forma; committee members and public commentators questioned whether those rent assumptions reflect local market conditions.

Fiscal takeaway and next steps In Babbitt’s LERTA schedule the district shows a small net negative in the early years (he identified the shortfalllasting roughly four years with a break‑even around year five) and a projected cumulative 11‑year net surplus of approximately $2.66 million. The developer emphasized that, in their view, the site will not develop without LERTA: “without the LERDA, the project will not move forward. There will be no development at all,” a developer representative said.

The committee did not vote on the LERTA application. Members asked staff to review the analysis, consult with city staff on permit timing and LERTA rules, and to seek additional clarity on student‑yield assumptions, rent and price assumptions, and the schedule of phased construction before placing the item on a future full‑board agenda.

Ending Developers said they would continue outreach with city residents, the city engineer and county stormwater officials to address site constraints and neighborhood concerns; the finance committee scheduled further review rather than an immediate recommendation to the full board.