Ohio group wants Penn
A development company from Westerville, Ohio, is interested in buying the Penn Theater, the Redevelopment Authority of the City of Butler confirmed Thursday.
Officials have been in talks with representatives of the Woda Group, and an offer was discussed by the authority during a recent executive session.
“Although these talks have been productive and the Redevelopment Authority is actively pursuing a sales agreement with the Woda Group, several issues still need to be resolved prior to any public action by the Redevelopment Authority,” read a statement issued by the authority at the end of its monthly meeting.
The authority will work with any potential buyer who has the means to buy the property and has a plan that would benefit the city, the release said.
The Woda Group has properties in 13 different states and specializes in affordable multifamily apartments, senior communities and single family homes, according to its website.
All of the authority's properties, most of which have significant debt, should be considered for sale, said Fred Reese, chairman.
“For us to get financially and feasibly set, it would be better for us to be out from under it,” he said about the Penn, which the authority acquired in 2009. The Penn Theater Performance Company, a nonprofit group, is still hoping to lease the theater.
The authority decided Thursday that it will ask John Evans, city code enforcement officer, to do another walk-through of the building and make a report about remaining code violations before its next meeting.
Dane Winkler, chairman of the Performance Company's board, asked to be present for the walk-through. The group has been working with plumbing and electrical contractors to address some of the code issues in the building so that the city can give it an occupancy permit.
The Performance Company, which has already provided the authority with a draft of a lease, also would like to make a presentation at its July meeting outlining how the community would benefit from having a performing arts theater on Main Street, Winkler said.
This would not be the Woda Group's first foray into real estate in Butler County.
The company had plans to turn the vacant Pullman Standard office building on Hansen Avenue in the city into apartments for seniors, but that plan fell through last year when it failed to get a grant from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.
The company is also behind a development off North Duffy Road in Butler Township that includes 50 low-income townhouses.
