READING — Unexpected building issues and a $165 million price tag led Berks County officials to consider indefinitely postponing plans to renovate the downtown courthouse and plot a tentative move to a nearby building, a commissioner told Spotlight PA.
The plan has significant implications for the City of Reading. Should the county purchase the 600 Penn St. building, the city would be unable to collect property taxes or benefit from special economic development dollars in the downtown corridor. Officials have also expressed concern for the future of the nearly 100-year-old courthouse if the county moves most operations out.
Nothing has been decided yet, County Commissioner Christian Leinbach told Spotlight PA. However, the county had to consider alternatives after an engineering review found damage to the building’s mechanical lines, and asbestos-covered pipes that officials previously did not know about.
“The question is, ‘Why are you finding this out now?’ And the answer is really very simple,” Leinbach said, explaining the county discovered the bulk of the problems in the building, including the asbestos, only when third-party engineers began inspections to proceed with previously planned upgrades.
Asbestos was widely used at the time of the courthouse’s construction and would only become an issue if the county began renovations because it is tucked inside the walls away from people, Leinbach said. The building needs to be mostly vacant before work can start, and the price tag is more than the county currently can responsibly undertake, he said.
The purchase of 600 Penn is still in preliminary stages with building owner Shuman Development Group, and no final decisions have been made. Leinbach and other county officials confirmed to Spotlight PA that, regardless of what ultimately happens, there is no talk of demolishing the nearly 100-year-old courthouse.
How did the 600 Penn plan come about?
The county started planning possible renovations of its courthouse and adjacent services center about three years ago, a spokesperson told Spotlight PA. Commissioners hired Beers & Hoffman Architecture firm to complete a space allocation study and speak with employees and residents about how county services could be better distributed among its existing buildings.
Some departments have since moved to the county’s south campus in Cumru Township, where residents can more easily access mobility ramps from parking spots. That transition has been rocky because the site has dealt with Legionella bacteria contamination, but Leinbach said the physical office space has met county needs.
The next step was to renovate and retrofit the buildings downtown to support changing workforce needs, with estimated costs of about $35 million for the courthouse and $30 million for the services center.
The changes presented in the initial space study would help rearrange the workflow of the courthouse, for example, to bring the public defender’s office into the same space instead of it operating across three different floors. The renovations would take place in stages, with departments moving back and forth as necessary.
However, the architecture firm’s third-party engineers informed the county in early 2026 that the courthouse costs would be around $100 million more than anticipated.
That’s more than the county’s 2026 capital budget of $18.1 million and around 20% of the year’s full budget of $672 million.
The county had been in contact since late 2025 with Shuman Development Group, the current 600 Penn owner, about possibly renting space on the lower level of the former Meridian Bank Building, now a food court, for its EarthRise program while renovating the service center cafeteria.
The conversation progressed to considering an outright purchase of the former Meridian or 600 Penn building.
Talks started toward the end of March, with county officials quickly realizing the prohibitive cost of the former Meridian building. But 600 Penn was an option: The county had rented space there for election services, and an additional engineering review of the property showed it would meet their spatial requirements, with about 7,000 square feet to expand.
“I don't want award-winning architecture,” Leinbach said of plans to convert 600 Penn St. “That building is in really great shape. I want efficiency and practical application. So the idea is that we can get in there as inexpensively as we can, as quickly as we can.”
Shuman Development Group’s Alan Shuman told Spotlight PA the county had asked him around a year ago to delay bringing new tenants into 600 Penn because it may need more space. He confirmed there was no discussion of a purchase until recently.
The county announced the plan to buy the building in a May 4 news release. Commissioners had previously discussed doing so in private executive sessions, which is allowed under state law.
Should the county acquire 600 Penn, it would make minimal renovations to the building, then move around 300 employees from the current services center there. This would allow for renovations in the services center, which would newly house judicial offices and courtrooms.
Under this scenario, the current courthouse would be minimally used until future county commissions decide how to proceed with full-scale renovations. Those changes would include removing the asbestos, along with making the building ADA-compliant, adding restrooms, and fixing electrical issues.
How much would the new building and renovations cost?
The cost of 600 Penn isn’t known yet because Berks has not completed a fair market value assessment, said Larry Medaglia, county deputy chief operations officer.
A private entity will determine the approximate value of the land and the building itself, which will contribute to the overall property value. Medaglia said that as a third-class county, Berks cannot purchase the building for more than the appraised value.
Between the purchase and outfitting of the 600 Penn building and renovations to the current services building, Medaglia anticipates a cost of around $95 million, compared to around $165 million to renovate current buildings.
“Now, is it a savings? No,” Medaglia said. “Is it a cost avoidance? It sure is.”
What could happen to the Berks County courthouse?
If the sale goes forward, most current judicial functions within the courthouse would eventually move to the services building next door.
The county would continue to maintain the courthouse, Medaglia said, and is not considering demolition or a sale. The building’s ceremonial courtrooms, along with some additional spaces, would still be available. The last time the building was substantially updated was in the 1990s. Medaglia said that, excluding changes to the HVAC and water heating systems, those fixes were more of a “refresh” than a “renovation.”
Designated historic buildings like the courthouse have different requirements than modern buildings. Aspects like ADA compliance do not always have to be added, unless large-scale renovations are done.
The now needed repairs would negate the building’s “grandfather status,” Leinbach said, and require it to be brought up to 2026 building code. Restrooms would have to be added on every floor, and the elevator and plumbing systems would need to be almost entirely replaced.
The issue comes down to financial power, Medaglia told Spotlight PA. The county currently has a sizable bond set to retire in 2037 and will likely be taking out other bonds to renovate the current services center and future youth detention center. He estimated it will take between eight and 10 years for the county to have the financial capacity to consider courthouse work.
“We're hoping that by maintaining the building, just keeping it in a state of stasis so that it's not deteriorating, but it's over there, and then a future board of commissioners can determine how they want to proceed with it,” Medaglia said.
The courthouse would already be mostly empty of services to allow time for the renovations, he said. Medaglia anticipates that some court operations could eventually move back to the historic building at future county leaders’ discretion.
Leinbach said that taking out a bond for the courthouse work now still won’t provide a place for court employees to work while renovations take place.
“We don't have any place to put them,” Leinbach said. 600 Penn is “the answer that is the most fiscally responsible solution right now. And the quicker we get out of [the courthouse], the more likely we're able to look at, ‘What are the options?’”
Dante Santoni, a county commissioner, said the Berks has reached this point in part because previous commissions neglected maintenance.
“Nothing's been done on [the services] building substantially since it was built in the early ‘90s, and with regards to the courthouse, the same kind of thing,” Santoni said. “So those are those costs, and those kicking the can down the road are coming to roost, so we have to deal with them. And it's not an easy call.”
How would this affect the City of Reading’s CRIZ?
The 600 Penn building is part of Reading’s City Revitalization and Improvement Zone (CRIZ). The designation allows the city to recoup certain taxes that would otherwise have been passed along to state coffers and reinvest the dollars in local projects.
One of the largest drivers is corporate income tax. Government workers in the 600 Penn building would not be eligible, making that property ineffective as part of the CRIZ efforts to grow the tax base.
Mayor Eddie Morán said in a statement to Spotlight PA that he is “extremely frustrated by the proposal itself and the process surrounding it” and that the purchase would have a significant impact on downtown. The administration is still reviewing the county’s plan.
“As these discussions continue, the city will also be focused on ensuring the county continues paying its fair share toward supporting the downtown and the services, infrastructure, and investments that make it successful,” Morán said.
Medaglia said the county wants to be a good partner to the city, whether it purchases the building or not.
“We see an opportunity to acquire a first-rate building, and I think we'd be missing out if we didn't do it,” Medaglia said.
The CRIZ board can redraw the CRIZ map periodically, but Chair Peter Rye told Reading City Council in an April meeting that they were still developing that process.
Medaglia and Kevin Barnhart, the county’s chief operating officer, presented the current plan to the City Council on May 11. They told councilors they would take the city’s concerns about lost tax revenue back to the commissioners.