Luzerne County Council to vote on White Haven Center reuse study

Luzerne County Council may vote next week to seek outside assistance on the best reuse for the state-owned White Haven Center campus in Foster Township.

The 23-building complex on nearly 183 acres off Interstate 80 has been vacant since the state closed the residential care facility for those with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 2023. A new owner is needed because the state has no use for the property and must spend approximately $4 million annually to maintain it and prevent further deterioration.

State officials asked the county to get involved in determining the property’s next use.

The county administration is asking County Council for permission to apply for expertise from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Philadelphia, a nonprofit research and education organization that works to solve community and real estate challenges. The application process will cost $20,000, and County Manager Romilda Crocamo has said she is optimistic the county will receive some financial assistance to offset that expense.

Several entities are interested in the property, and an agreement with ULI is a way for the county to “have a voice in how this property is going to be used,” Crocamo told council at its work session last week.

ULI would reach out to stakeholders — including Foster Township and White Haven officials and representatives of prospective developers — to make sure the property is “going to be used in a way that benefits the people in the area and the entire county,” she said.

County Chief Solicitor Harry W. Skene said this approach would ensure municipal and county officials have an opportunity to weigh in on behalf of their residents.

Without this step, the property could simply be listed by the state and sold, Skene said. Speaking hypothetically, Skene noted some citizens have expressed concerns about data centers.

“If they’re just going to put it up for sale, we have no ability to have an input as to where it’s going to go,” Skene said. “So it would be a true benefit to our communities for us to become involved in something like this.”

For clarity, the township’s zoning map does not include the White Haven Center in a district that would allow data centers. The property is zoned for special-purpose institutional use.

Councilman Chris Belles asked if the state would ignore the study recommendation, saying he doesn’t want to waste $20,000 in county funds. He presented an example of the state selling the property to a developer even though the study advocated something else.

Based on her conversations with the state, Crocamo said the study is a way to prevent the state from advancing a reuse not backed by the local officials and residents.

Belles said her response made him “feel better” about the investment.

Council Chairman Jimmy Sabatino said he understood ULI also would help develop a request-for-proposals that is “very specific” about acceptable uses when purchase offers are solicited for the property. The uses would be based on its study findings, Sabatino said.

“This is our way to get into that process,” Sabatino said.

Crocamo said officials “need to be ahead of these issues” instead of being on the defensive.

“I hope that County Council passes it, and I look forward to working with the residents of that area,” Crocamo said.

Council is expected to vote on the request at its April 28 meeting.

Describing the property as “stunning,” Crocamo said she is setting up a council tour of the complex next month.

“It served the area well,” she said of the center. “It’s vacant, and it’s a sin that it’s vacant.”

Councilman Harry Haas said he believes the agreement would be “valuable” and that county officials should have a say. He recalled council had strongly urged the state to keep the White Haven Center open.

Under the proposal, ULI would assign a panel of up to 15 senior-level members to an intensive two-day working session that includes touring the study area, interviewing stakeholders, and working as a group to produce preliminary findings and recommendations, followed by a complete and detailed report within two months.

To date, one entity has publicly declared interest in the site. Mark Baylis, of the nonprofit Valor Clinic Foundation, wants to occupy the property to provide affordable housing, vocational training, and other services for veterans. That plan should be self-sustaining but would require government funding assistance for implementation, he had said.

Crocamo told Baylis his group would be included in the discussions if the ULI application is authorized by council and accepted.