Gov. Josh Shapiro’s property battle | Real Estate Newsletter
And a chat with a big local builder.
Not even governors are immune to neighbor wars.
In fact, Gov. Josh Shapiro’s job has fueled a legal dispute between his family and the folks living next to his private residence.
The Shapiros and their neighbors have sued each other over a security fence and a fight over property boundaries.
Keep scrolling for that story and more in this week’s edition:
Builder Q&A: Dive into a conversation with the Malvern-based boss of one of the Mid-Atlantic’s biggest builders.
An Eagle for a neighbor: Check out Center City penthouses that are available to rent for $13,000 a month in the same building where Cooper DeJean lives.
Modernizing a historical home: Tour a 32-acre Bucks County property with an 18th-century home, a chicken coop, and a pond.
Market update: Scroll to see what the housing market was up to in January.
— Michaelle Bond
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Last spring, a man firebombed the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion in Harrisburg while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside.
Following the arson attack, Shapiro made security upgrades at his personal home in Abington Township.
This week, Shapiro’s neighbors filed a lawsuit in federal court against Pennsylvania’s first couple, accusing the Shapiros of illegally occupying part of their yard to build a security fence. They say the planned location for the structure is on their property, and they’ve asked a judge to get the couple off their lawn.
The Shapiros quickly filed a countersuit. They say they thought the roughly 2,900 square feet of land under dispute was theirs when they bought their home in 2003, and both they and their neighbors believed that to be true until last year.
Over the summer, a land surveyor discovered that the Shapiros’ neighbors actually owned the land, according to the countersuit. But the governor and his wife are asking a judge to rule that they are the legal owners.
Keep reading to learn about a legal mechanism called adverse possession and details of the fight between Pennsylvania’s governor and his neighbors. (It involves drones, tree planting, and the scaring off of contractors.)
Mike Lloyd is a Harvard Law School graduate, a former Wall Street trader, and a former lawyer for Uber.
For the last few years, he’s been president and controlling owner of one of the mid-Atlantic’s largest general construction contractors, Malvern-based IMC. In that time, both the company’s revenue and its presence in New Jersey and Delaware have grown.
IMC’s work includes offices, hospitals, warehouses, and apartments. It’s currently building apartments in Ardmore and East Whiteland Township.
Lloyd said he’s seeing a lot of demand in Philly’s suburbs. I’ve written about how they frequently rank among the most competitive rental markets in the country.
My colleague Joseph N. DiStefano toured an IMC apartment construction site and talked to Lloyd about growing his business.
The latest news to pay attention to
This couple walked into their West Philly dream home and made an offer that day.
As a hotel looms, a tiny Ocean City neighborhood behind the old Gillian’s fears losing its small-town feel.
A stadium district mega-development opposed by the Phillies, Eagles, and Comcast Spectacor appears to be dead.
Some Philly properties formerly owned by Sonder, the now-closed short-term rental company, have gotten new owners.
A rabbi wants to build a Jewish day school in Washington Square West, but he’s getting some pushback from neighbors.
An old zoning law threatens to block a new restaurant and bar in Fishtown.
This developer wants to revive one of South Jersey’s deadest malls. But it’s not a done deal.
House of the week: For $729,900 in Drexel Hill, a mid-century modern home that spans 3,314 square feet and has three terraces.
Luxe listing: For about $13,000 a month, you can rent a Center City penthouse in the building where Eagles star Cooper DeJean lives.
Cynthia and Chris Swayze bought their home on 32 acres of Bucks County farmland in 1985. At the time, the 18th-century house was falling apart, and the couple had never farmed before.
But the Swayzes thought the property was “a diamond in the rough,” Chris said. And they set out to make it their home.
An expanded kitchen and addition increased the size of their home from about 3,000 square feet to about 6,500 square feet.
A partial list of their renovations:
They moved a staircase and removed a wall to make the kitchen bigger.
An addition on the back of the house includes the primary bedroom suite.
They removed plaster that had been covering fieldstones on the exterior of the home.
Their daughter co-owns an interior design firm and designed their home.
Peek inside the Swayzes’ home and see the structural feature they call the “party hat.”
📊 The market
In the first month of the year, Philly-area households whose new year’s resolution was to buy a home had a few reasons to feel hopeful. But local housing markets were generally still on sellers’ side.
Homes stayed on the market for a median of 26 days before selling in January, according to the multiple listing service Bright MLS. That’s up from 21 days at the same time last year. So buyers had a little more time and room to negotiate.
“Buyers have a bit more leverage on terms and concessions than they have had in recent years,” Lisa Sturtevant, chief economist at Bright MLS, said in a statement, “but in many local markets, limited supply means well‑priced homes in desirable neighborhoods will still attract strong interest this spring.”
That’s the case here. Our limited home supply means prices are continuing to climb.
In the Philadelphia metro area last month, according to Bright MLS:
🔺The number of active home listings was up 8.4% from last January. But the supply of homes for sale is still only about half of what it was before the pandemic.
🔺The median sale price of $380,000 was up 6.4% from the same time last year.
🔻The number of closed sales was down 8.6% from last January, reflecting softer demand, even though mortgage rates have dropped. The number of new pending sales was also down — by 5.7%.
📷 Photo quiz
Do you know the location this photo shows?
📮 If you think you do, email me back. You and your memories of visiting this spot might be featured in the newsletter.
Last week’s quiz featured a photo of the Stenton mansion.
Shout-out to Paul S. and John S. for getting that right.
Enjoy the rest of your week.
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