Student housing developer example of what city needs

WILKES-BARRE NEEDS more visionaries like Bill Henry.

Henry, a developer who lives in Bucks County, sees opportunity in the city’s dilapidated historical buildings.

In the last five years, he said he invested more than $2 million into old buildings and anticipates spending another $1 million in 2008.

He remodels the interiors while retaining the historical integrity of the buildings’ exteriors. Then, he rents modern apartments to college students, reported staff writer Bill O’Boyle in Tuesday’s edition.

“Wilkes-Barre is a college town with a lot of run-down buildings,” Henry said. “By buying them and renovating them, the city and the campus are improved.”

Henry became interested in college housing after his daughter began attending Wilkes University in 2001.

“When I visited Wilkes-Barre, I found off-campus student housing to be deplorable,” he said. “I’m a real-estate developer and investor and I decided I would try to improve what I saw.”

Henry has transformed 10 buildings – most of them close to the Wilkes campus and one near the King’s College campus. So far, 125 students rent from him.

Shelley Pearce, director of the Wilkes Conservatory and chairwoman of the Cultural Council of Luzerne County, has helped Henry find properties to refurbish. She says he’s no absentee landlord -- Henry genuinely cares about his tenants and the city.