Newtown Municipal Authority Approves $11.5 Million Sale Of Property To DeLuca Homes

The Newtown Bucks County Joint Municipal Authority voted unanimously July 28 to approve an $11.5 million agreement of sale for its 17.5-acre Lower Silver Lake Road property to builder DeLuca Homes, under DeLuca Newtown LLC.

The 6-0 vote by the authority’s Board of Directors comes after the abandoned plan to construct a $128 million wastewater treatment facility on the site.

The $11.5 million sale price matches the amount the authority paid to acquire the property.

The property is located in Newtown Township on Silver Lake Road and sits yards from Middletown Township and less than a mile from Bucks County-owned Core Creek Park.

The authority had originally acquired the acreage under eminent domain from 42 University LLC and the KRE development group. Jim Worthington, owner of the Newtown Athletic Club, serves as the principal for 42 University LLC and had purchased the site in 2017 for $3.3 million.

Prior to the authority’s condemnation of the land, KRE Upper Macungie Associates LP had envisioned a 245-unit apartment complex for the location, a project that faced resident opposition.

Plans to construct the state-of-the-art sewage facility for the area triggered widespread public backlash and litigation threats from residents across Newtown Township, Newtown Borough, Middletown Township, and Lower Makefield Township. The resistance led the Newtown Township Board of Supervisors to withdraw its support for the project.

“We determined we could not and should not proceed without the backing of the elected officials from the township,” the authority stated in a post on its website.

The authority board voted last year to terminate the wastewater plant project and returned to court to receive permission to sell the condemned parcel.

Before listing the land for public sale, the agency was legally required to offer the acreage back to its former owners.

“While one previous owner made an offer to reclaim the property, the bid came in several million dollars below the $11.5 million purchase price,” the agency said in its statement.

The board said they declined the offer because the resulting financial loss would have triggered mandatory rate hikes for rate payers.

Under the terms of the agreement, DeLuca Homes has a 90-day window to assess the feasibility of its plans for the parcel. The developer will need to secure approval from Newtown Township, including a mandatory zoning change to residential.

“We are optimistic that these local buyers know the community well and are prepared to complete this process with Newtown Township, and thereafter, complete this project that we anticipate will be a benefit to the entire community,” the authority said.