Lighthouse Foundation seeks move to former Penn Twp. furniture store
PENN TWP — The massive Furniture Galleries/Carpet One structure has sat vacant on Pittsburgh Road in the township for nearly three years, with a sign out front reading, “BUILDING AVAILABLE.”
That status could soon change, as the Lighthouse Foundation — a Christian outreach organization based in nearby Middlesex Township — has expressed interest in moving its headquarters there.
At its monthly meeting Tuesday night, Oct. 14, the township board of supervisors approved the Lighthouse Foundation’s site plan to expand the parking lot at the property, as well as add a new parking lot with 38 additional spaces.
“According to our calculations, there would be 73 required parking spaces for the building,” said Josiah Hoefler of Gateway Engineers, representing the Lighthouse Foundation at Tuesday’s meeting. “We provided 87 parking spaces on the plan.”
Although Hoefler says the Lighthouse Foundation is “under contract” to purchase the property, he said no transaction has taken place yet.
“They’re still early in the process, so I don’t think the sale’s gone through yet,” Hoefler said. “I believe this is part of due diligence for the sale.”
The Lighthouse Foundation’s offices are at Browns Hill Road in Middlesex Township. Hoefler said the organization — which runs a food pantry, transitional housing and emergency financial assistance programs — has outgrown its current space.
“This will provide a bigger location for them so they can expand services,” Hoefler said after Tuesday’s meeting. “They’re currently constrained by the storage capacity of their existing building, so this will allow them to put greater volume through their food pantry sites.”
The Furniture Galleries store closed in 2023 after more than six decades in business under the Offstein family, and the building has remained vacant ever since. As of Tuesday, according to Butler County property records, the Furniture Galleries property is owned by Offstein & Offstein.
