A long-planned affordable senior housing development at Sixth and Chestnut streets in Reading has moved another step through the city’s approval process.
City Council, sitting as the city’s Historical Architectural Review Board, held a public hearing Thursday on plans to transform the long-vacant former Berks Engineering complex into Cornerstone at Sixth and Chestnut.
The project by HDC MidAtlantic and Landis Quality Living calls for preserving and rehabilitating portions of the historic industrial complex while replacing severely deteriorated sections with new construction.
The development is planned for 46 apartments for residents 62 and older. The Reading Planning Commission unanimously approved its preliminary land development plan in June. The project previously received $1.7 million in annual low-income housing tax credits from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.
A certificate of appropriateness is needed because the property at 201 through 225 S. Sixth St. is within the Prince Historic District.
A depiction of the transformation of the long-vacant former Berks Engineering complex into Cornerstone at Sixth and Chestnut, an affordable senior housing complex. (Courtesy of Reading)
Council is temporarily handling higher-level historic preservation reviews following the collapse of the city’s HARB earlier this year.
Gary Weaver, managing principal of Tippets Weaver Architects, said his firm began working on the project in 2023, when the complex had already suffered extensive deterioration after years of vacancy.
Although the original intention was to retain more of the historic buildings, Weaver said continued deterioration made that impossible.
“Unfortunately, although they were great historic buildings, many of them really could not be saved or rehabilitated,” he said.
The oldest building, at Sixth and Chestnut, will be restored, along with other surviving portions facing Sixth Street. New construction will fill much of the remainder of the site, forming a roughly U-shaped building around a landscaped courtyard.
The architects also plan to preserve reminders of the property’s industrial past, including a crane rail at a former loading area. The crane itself will remain inside the new lobby.
“We feel that that tells some of the history of the building,” Weaver said.
Much of Thursday’s discussion focused on how a new section along Chestnut Street should relate to the historic buildings.
The architects propose using slightly different brick and flat-topped windows to distinguish the new construction from the original architecture.
Cornerstone at Sixth and Chestnut is planned for 46 apartments for residents 62 and older. (Courtesy of Reading)
Scott Graham, president of Muhlenberg Green Architects and a consultant to the city, generally supported the project but questioned whether that section should instead more closely replicate the demolished historic facade, including its arched brick window headers.
Graham described the issue as a gray area between historic rehabilitation and reconstruction and said the disagreement involved relatively minor details.
“I don’t think the proposed changes are really impactful to the overall scope,” he said.
Weaver said the project architects view the section as new construction rather than a reconstruction because the deteriorated original wall could not safely be retained.
“We chose to differentiate the new building by a change in the color of the brick,” he said, adding that flat-headed windows provide another subtle distinction between old and new.
Assistant preservation specialist Lisa Charlanza told council that former historic preservation specialist Amy Johnson had recommended approval before leaving the city.
Cornerstone at Sixth and Chestnut is planned for 46 apartments for residents 62 and older. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Johnson resigned, effective Sept. 11, after more than 30 years with the city to take a public sector preservation position outside Reading.
Charlanza said she had no reason, based on Thursday’s presentation, to oppose approval if council accepts the architects’ approach.
No members of the public spoke at the hearing.
Council is expected to render its decision on the certificate of appropriateness by resolution at its Oct. 12 or 28 regular meeting.