Talks Progressing On Willow Grove Navy Base Redevelopment

HORSHAM TOWNSHIP, PA —Some day, the Willow Grove Air Force Base will be transformed.

While township officials cannot provide a specific timeframe, there is some progress.

"We are meeting and discussing phasing in redevelopment," Township Manager Bill Walker told those attending a "State of Horsham" meeting in late October. "Talks are going well."

But township officials said the current timeline remains uncertain.

The township sees the 862-acre base as a mixed-use development that would include a town center, office park, and regional recreation center, along with some housing.

But the process has been long in the making with ownership transfer discussions to Horsham Township going back more than a decade regarding the base, which is wrapped by Horsham Road, Route 611, and County Line Road.

The NAS-JRB Willow Grove property represents 8 percent of the 17-square-mile township.

One roadblock has been how much of the base was contaminated. Walker said that some of the property is not contaminated.

The redevelopment plan is being overseen by the Horsham Land Redevelopment Authority. But with the lengthy period of transfer, the authority's longtime executive director Mike McGee retired at the end of last year. He was replaced by Mike Shinton.

Click here to read about the redevelopment plans for the base.

Effective Nov. 9, 2005, the Base Closure and Realignment Commission voted to close NAS-JRB Willow Grove. The closure took place in September 2011.

Walker said at the "State of Horsham" meeting that it may take decades to develop the base.

But there have been some successes regarding the base property, township officials said.

Nearly 9 acres were transferred in a southeast clear zone, leading to the construction and opening of the Hallowell Elementary School off Easton Road.

Walker said those 8.5 acres were transferred to the Hatboro-Horsham School District for $1.

Shinton, the township's director of codes and community planning, was appointed to lead the HLRA at the board's July 19 meeting.

He is in charge of managing the day-to-day redevelopment of the former Naval Air Station – Joint Reserve Base, Willow Grove, along with his existing township duties.

“The redevelopment of the base is vitally important to the future of Horsham Township and it makes total sense to have one person leading the effort” W. William Whiteside, chairman of the HLRA Board and vice president of Horsham Township Council, said. “Mike’s background and leadership skills match up well with all of the tasks ahead of us as the Navy continues its environmental investigations and clean-up actions necessary before the property transfer."

The Navy recently completed the demolition of one of the officer housing quarters along Easton Road.

Back in November 2022, a delivery truck crashed through the fence and damaged the structure (which has been unoccupied since 2011). Engineering evaluations revealed that the impact significantly damaged the building and it was judged to be structurally unsound.