Delco Council Signs $57,000 5-Year Lease Agreement For District Court

NEWTOWN SQUARE–A pending lease between and Delaware County to move the district courts, currently located in the , into the second floor space of the township's municipal building has been dropped and a new lease with local developer National Realty Corp. signed.

The five-year lease agreement with the county and Paul de Botton, president of National Realty Corp., was signed on March 29 for a 3,000-square-foot space located at 4655 West Chester Pike in the Newtown Business Center, just by the border of Edgemont Township, for the use of housing .

The lease begins next month on May 15, in which it will cost the county $19 per square feet of the 3,000-square-foot facility or $57,000 in total, which will be paid in monthly installments of $4,750 per month.

There is a five-year renewal option after the initial five-year lease has been completed, in which the rent renewal will be $21.50 per square foot or $64,500 in total.

In the pending lease between Newtown and Delaware County, a for the was mentioned as late as this summer.

However at their last Board of Supervisors meeting on March 28, town officials had a hunch the county was looking elsewhere for a new location for the district court.

Township Manager Jim Sheldrake previously said the original contract between the township and county included a cost figure of $21.34 per square foot of the building for lease. According to Sheldrake, the figure was proposed by the county but was "pulled off the table for some reason."

"They were the ones that said the $21.34," said Sheldrake at the last meeting. "We were going back and forth, and back and forth verbally. The paperwork was sent from the county and the lease was ready to go and ready for our signatures."

Delaware County Council Chairman John Whelan commented about the new signed lease as making the most sense dollar-wise.

"We would've liked to sign with the township but we had to do what made the most sense with the county and the taxpayers," said Whelan. "It was just cheaper."

The Gauntlett Community Center, which has a plan to go under renovations and demolishing nearly half of its 71,000-square-foot facility, has forced tenants like the district courts to look for a new location elsewhere.

Due to a fire in 1954, the community center has been in need of a face-lift and the plan will get rid of the existing cafeteria and several of the classrooms, which were used when the building was originally built for the district's high school. The gym will also see a face lift in addition to the administrative offices.