Pottstown, PA – December 1, 2023
Pottstown Area Economic Development (PAED), along with the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce, and a room full of leaders gathered to celebrate the ribbon cutting of 215 S. Washington Street, best known as the former Pottstown Plating Works, and now home to DJ Pallets. Speakers at the event included PA State Representative Joe Ciresi; PAED’s Executive Director Peggy Lee-Clark; Pottstown School District Superintendent & PAED’s President of the Board of Directors; Katina Bearden, President of Pottstown School Board of Education; Borough of Pottstown Mayor Stephanie Henrick; Borough Manager Justin Keller;, Executive Director of the Redevelopment Authority of Montgomery County Aliyah Stanger, DJ Pallets Owner Dan Ullman; John Jones, Property Owner & Owner of Budget Maintenance.
This 3.89 acre parcel with a 46,500 sq. ft. building operated from 1950-2009 in metal electroplating. The property was abandoned & blighted for 10+ years. After extensive private investment and public funding, environmental cleanup funding support and collaboration between federal, state, and county agencies, renovations are complete.
Several phases of environmental cleanup began in 2017, with collaboration between the Redevelopment Authority of Montgomery County (RDA), the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Before it could be occupied by a new business, the property and building need to be completely rehabilitated, physically and environmentally. In addition, there was a variety of past financial obligations left by the former owner. Montgomery County Commissioners, the Borough of Pottstown, and the Pottstown School District, the Borough’s Sewer Authority unanimously approved forgiveness of the former owner’s delinquent taxes between August 2018 and May 2022. As PAED’s Executive Director, Peggy Lee-Clark shares, “These encumbrances were nothing but numbers on a piece of paper that would never be recovered for all 3 taxing bodies and the Authority.”
With nearly $2 million of private funds, and several years of dedication invested for this project, Property Owner and Pottstown native John Jones shared “I believed in Pottstown…” Mr. Jones was committed to finding the ideal tenant who was an employer, and did so with DJ Pallets, who relocated from Norristown, PA. As DJ Pallets Owner, Dan Ullman, expressed at the celebration, “Pottstown picked us…” The expansion into this new building will allow DJ Pallets to continue to grow and employ more individuals.
“This is a great day for Pottstown… Without the current owner, this very visible building would have continued to decay and the site would remain environmentally contaminated.” said Peggy Lee-Clark.