Former Williamsport School Building Will Be Converted into Apartments and Offices

A former Williamsport elementary school appears to be getting closer to being turned into apartments for new residents and offices for a developer.

The City Council approved the conditional use of Moonrise Acquisitions LLC, whose owner George Hutchinson of Rose Street, based on discussions with the council, contracted him to work with the design and planning team to renovate and reuse the former John Paul II Elementary School. Thaddeus Stevens at 1150 Louisa St.

The conditional use vote occurred after a public hearing conducted in accordance with the city’s ordinance and the Pennsylvania Zoning Code.

No one at the meeting spoke either for or against this project. The notification was forwarded to local residents and published in “Gazeta Słoneczna”.

According to Gary Knarr, the city’s zoning administrator and office manager for the Codes Office, the application outlines a plan to convert the former school into multi-family housing with the remaining office space.

Multi-family houses in the R2 area require conditional use, which is permitted and allows municipalities to establish the conditions of their use.

The existing structure will be redeveloped in the first phase, consisting of 28 to 32 apartments, with a maximum desired plan of 55 apartments and approximately 4,000 square feet of office space.

Knarr said the first phase of the project will consist exclusively of 28-32 units, which will be managed internally. Meets all off-street parking requirements and may include additional access, which, if selected, will be reviewed by the City Engineer and Zoning Official.

The school building closed in 2022, and the rezoning received a letter of support from the Williamsport/Lycoming Chamber of Commerce.

Knarr said the redevelopment of the former school building would put the property on the tax rolls.

The project was reviewed by the Williamsport Planning Commission, which saw no need to add any restrictions at this time, as did Knarr, as seen in the designs and plans.

The project is not expected to change the character of the neighborhood, and because it was previously a school with more than 701 students and 50 faculty that was serviced by buses and supplies, it will not impact the density of the neighborhood, according to officials.

Councilwoman Bonnie Katz asked about the reconstruction timeline. Knarr said the city is already working with the company’s architects and design teams, and based on that, he assumed reconstruction would begin within the next year or sooner.

Hutchinson plans to move the (LGN) operations from Rose Street to the first floor of the new development, Knarr said, and that’s what the 4,000-square-foot office space will look like.

Council Vice President Eric Beiter noted that it would be nice to see the building occupied by residents in a city that needs high-quality housing, and encouraged that a second entrance be included in the design since it was a bit difficult to negotiate the corner at the top of Country Avenue.

He hoped the addition of the project would come a little sooner rather than later to reduce traffic congestion at the corner and Rural Avenue to the east.

According to the school board, the decision was based on a 2020 district-wide feasibility study that was designed to determine the school’s long-term viability. The study showed that renovating the current building would cost over $20 million, and if it was decided to demolish the current building and build a new one, it would cost over $26 million.

There were 261 students attending the school at that time.

The plan was to spread these students among three other elementary schools in the district.