$52 million transformation<\/a> by developer Alan Shuman of a series of buildings in the 400 block of Penn Street, which includes the bank building, into a mixed-use space featuring 150 housing units.<\/p>\n![\"Reading](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/REG-L-DCEDSecVisitsReading2148.jpg\")
Reading developer Alan Shuman speaks about creating housing opportunities in the city during a press conference at the former bank building at Fifth and Penn streets on Monday, March 2, 2026. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Or the ongoing building of homes by Habitat for Humanity of Berks County in the Buttonwood Gateway neighborhood, which Siger also visited Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the kinds of examples of what we can do when we work together,\u201d Siger said.<\/p>\n
Reading Mayor Eddie Moran said Siger\u2019s visit was meaningful, with cities like Reading on the front lines of the housing crisis.<\/p>\n
Families are working hard, Moran said, but often find themselves unable to keep up with the rising costs of housing. But the city has \u201cgood bones,\u201d he said, with historic buildings, walkable streets and opportunities for economic development.<\/p>\n
Projects like the one at the bank and Buttonwood Gateway, Moran said, aim to turn the possibilities those good bones provide into realities.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is simple, folks,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you work in Reading, you should be able to live in Reading. If you grew up here, you should be able to build a life here.\u201d<\/p>\n
State Sen. Judy Schwank thanked Siger for visiting Reading, commenting that the Shapiro administration not only doesn\u2019t forget about the city, but makes an effort to highlight it.<\/p>\n
But the new housing plan, she said, isn\u2019t just about cities.<\/p>\n
She pointed out that the housing crisis is hitting all kinds of areas, from urban to suburban to rural.<\/p>\n
Across Berks County, she said, the median list price for a home is $290,000. And, she said, she recently saw one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartments in Spring Township renting for $1,800.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s almost unattainable to many of our young families,\u201d she said. \u201cHow can we expect young people to pay that and be able to save up to buy a home?\u201d<\/p>\n
State Rep. Johanny Cepeda-Freyitz applauded the Shapiro administration for not just talk about the housing crisis but actually taking actions to solve it. And that is important because housing is such a crucial topic, she said.<\/p>\n
Cepeda-Freytiz said many of her constituents are working hard, sometimes at multiple jobs, but still struggling to keep up. They\u2019re having to choose between paying rent and buying groceries, or between making needed repairs and buying medicine.<\/p>\n
\u201cHousing isn\u2019t just policy, it\u2019s personal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With its stately pillars guarding its front door, its soaring, intricately molded ceiling, and the brass details scattered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,4736,182,139,28,128,130,129,706],"class_list":["post-127674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-reading","tag-berks-county","tag-housing","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-reading-city","tag-reading-city-headlines","tag-reading-city-news","tag-top-stories-reg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Pennsylvania](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/REG-L-DCEDSecVisitsReading2149.jpg\")
Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Secretary Rick Siger, center, walks down Penn Street with Habitat for Humanity development director Doug Long, left, and Reading Managing Director Jack R. Gombach following a press conference in the former bank at Fifth and Penn streets on Monday, March 2, 2026. (BILL UHRICH\/READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n