The Mill Run Angel Star health care facility in Bristol Borough is reportedly one step closer to opening officials said during Monday’s council meeting.
In an update to members and the public, East Ward Councilwoman Lorraine Cullen said the owners received occupancy permits from the borough for the first and second floors of the facility.
Now they’re waiting for the state to come through, Cullen said.
In February of this year the owner and contractor working on the site said a significant portion of the work had been completed on the second and third floors of the building. Subsequently agreeing to give Lower Bucks Source a sneak peek of the inside of the development, however, later ignoring requests to set up a time and date for a preview.
Credit: Jeff Bohen Lower Bucks Source
Bristol Borough and the Redevelopment Authority of Bucks County took over the site in the early 2010s. An agreement was reached in 2015 to sell the property to the current owner, 1201 Wilson Acquisition (Wilson). The site changed official ownership more than four years ago.
Wilson Acquisition started work on the site by gutting the old structure in and around 2015. Construction and renovation work on the 77,000-square-foot facility soon followed.
The snail-paced progress of the work at the site has led to complaints from neighbors and officials over the years. However, the time and work invested into the project has given the site, once considered an eyesore, a modernized, sleek look when it opens its doors for good. The facility is set to provide senior care and medical offices when it opens.
And therein lies where Bristolians have focused in recent years on the yet-to-be completed project.
In late 2022 spokesman for the developers Michael Hollister provided an update to Council and the community which sparked a wave of enthusiasm and interest at the tail end of the COVID Pandemic and an opening date was near for locals hoping to work at the care facility.
Hollister said at the time job seekers could apply for various employment roles through a website scheduled to launch in the new year (2023). The site was never launched which in turn further raised the ire of locals.
The developer expects the facility to bring 200 jobs.
It was the third time Wilson Acquisition or its representatives, according to Bristol Borough records, said the facility was about to open which never materialized.
According to official records in 2015, council, the school board and the county approved granting a Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA), which limits the taxes paid on the building until 2030. Property owners must pay a local tax but the tax will not change based on property improvements. The premise is that property owners may take the money saved from local taxes and further improve the property.
LERTA is a tax abatement program created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1977 to authorize local taxing authorities to provide tax exemptions. The legislation is designed to promote the redevelopment of aging or deteriorating properties. LERTA requires an application and approval of a graduated 10-year tax abatement for the property.
Pennsylvania officials must approve the facility before opening.
It’s going to be a while before that happens, Cullen said.
1400 Wilson facility taken in June of 2022
Credit: Jeff Bohen Lower Bucks Source
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