By Jeff Werner – Journalist, Patch, Northampton, PA
Apr 1, 2025
Northampton Township Supervisors vote to sell its former police station for $950,000 for redevelopment into a mini-town center.
RICHBORO, PA — A mini-town center could be coming to the heart of Northampton Township.
At its March meeting, the board of supervisors voted unanimously to enter into an agreement to sell its former police station at 50 Township Road to the Trinity Group Richboro Owners LLC for redevelopment.
Richboro Owners plan to combine the police station property with the former Bucks County Courier Times building next door to create a mini-town center that could include a brewpub/restaurant, sushi restaurant, yoga wellness studio and an ice creamery.
The township received two valid proposals for the former police station property. The other one was submitted by BSI Construction, which proposed converting the existing building into a physical therapy and a sports rehab facility focused on athlete recovery and injury prevention.
The Richboro Owners submitted the highest bid – $950,000 – for the property, surpassing BSI’s proposal by $10,000.
Plans for the project will still need to go through the township’s zoning, land development and planning process before ground can be broken.
“I’m excited about this. This is growth for Richboro and Northampton Township,” said Supervisor Paula Gasper, who made the motion to approve the agreement of sale. “It’s going to be an excellent place that we can walk or drive to right around the corner.”
Supervisor Barry Moore added, “This is going to be great for our residents. People are very excited about it. I talked to a lot of local businesses. They are excited about it. The concept is a rising tide raises all boats. Having more of a town center it’s going to help all the other businesses in the area.
“It’s going to create jobs for development, which is good, and from a tax perspective this proposal will put anywhere between $6 million and $7 million worth of investment into the town center, which will be a nice tax base not only for the township, but also for the county and the school district,” said Moore.
“The developer also has a lot of expertise in this area so I would highly recommend it,” said Moore.
Supervisor Bob Salzer noted that there are still some benchmarks that will need to be met. “But in view of the plans, this one by far has the most potential and makes the most sense for the long term betterment of the township.”
Supervisor Dr. Kimberly Rose said both proposals included good ideas and both were submitted by Northampton residents.
“When you look at both, neither of them are bad ideas. But with BSI’s proposal, you’re just going to have the development on 1.33 acres of land. They are not going to take the building down. They’re just going to fix it up. They’re not going to make a big change. But the Trinity Group, they are taking the Courier building and the old police station, which will give them 16,000 square feet of retail space with yoga studio and a restaurant. There will also be 26,000 feet of walkable green space with sidewalks, benches, and open fields.
“When you’re thinking about the future of our community – thinking big instead of thinking small -the Trinity Group Richboro Owners is definitely the better idea,” said Rose.
Chairman Adam Selisker added, “The town center is going to be a nice addition. The old Courier Times facility has probably been vacant for 25 years. It really needs some attention. It’s been sitting there tired. This particular plan incorporates the use of that property. It’s a really nice reuse of that property in addition to the old police department. It takes that whole corner and beautifies it. To me, that’s an investment in our community. We will get a lot of benefit from it. I like the sushi and ice cream part. But the brewery sounds good, too.”
Seliker added, “It’s important to note that through the land development process there are opportunities for public comment along the way.”
