(HARRISBURG) – (May 27, 2026) The nonprofit Tri-County Housing has earned a key designation as a Community Housing Development Organization (CHDO) from the Cumberland County Commissioners, opening the door to more affordable housing at its LeTort Lofts venture in Carlisle, PA.
The certification confirms that Tri-County is in good standing and eligible to receive HOME funds through the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Executive Director Gary Lenker explained. The process required the nonprofit to address a checklist of more than 20 items that include the state of their financials.
Tri-County also earned this designation from the Cumberland County Commissioners for its Normandy Lofts complex in Shippensburg, completed in June of 2025.
LeTort Lofts will reinvigorate the former Tyco plant site at Clay and Hamilton Streets in Carlisle in a partnership with Columbus, Ohio-based builder/developer Woda Cooper. It will include 48 affordable units priced at or below the 60 percent area median income level. The income limit ensures that residents spend no more than 30 percent of their income on rent and housing.
In addition to the CHDO designation, Cumberland County Commissioners approved a request for the Housing and Redevelopment Authorities to apply for $239,926 in HOME funds on behalf of Tri-County Housing. HOME, a federally funded HUD program, provides grants and loans to expand and preserve the supply of affordable housing for lower-income Pennsylvanians.
For its part in LeTort Lofts, Tri-County Housing will create eight affordable for-sale townhomes, providing low- to moderate-income families with an opportunity for homeownership, promoting housing stability and long-term community investment. The total project budget for the eight townhomes is $2,787,221. Based on the buyer’s income, these townhomes will be available for purchase for between $139,900 and $159,900.
The LeTort Lofts community is a long-awaited answer to the question of what will become of a nucleus of closed industrial facilities, Lenker said. Between 2008 and 2012, Carlisle Borough faced the closure of three of its largest industrial facilities, in the borough’s northwest neighborhood. These shutdowns eliminated hundreds of jobs and left behind a cluster of brownfields in a concentrated urban area. The closures included the 48-acre International Automotive Components factory, the 12-acre Carlisle Tire & Wheel property, and the three-acre former Tyco Electronics plant.
“LeTort Lofts brings a much-needed transformation to a once-vibrant site that promises to enhance the local economy and preserve the historic charm that Carlisle has always been known and loved for,” Lenker said. “Earning a CHDO designation helps move this project one step closer to reality and residential living.”
WHO WE ARE: Tri-County Housing was formerly Tri-County Housing Development Corporation (TCHDC). Tri-County/TCHDC has served Dauphin, Cumberland and Perry Counties for 36 years. Since 1990, they have developed or rehabilitated more than 800 units of affordable housing, for both rent and purchase. They specialize in rehabilitation and redevelopment projects as well as new home construction. Tri-County rehabilitates abandoned and blighted properties in the City of Harrisburg and throughout Dauphin, Cumberland Counties and Perry Counties. In addition, they are a HUD-certified Homebuyer Counseling Agency that provides a monthly eight-hour course to first-time homebuyers. Recent successful projects include affordable homes for sale in the South Allison Hill neighborhood of Harrisburg, on both Hummel Street and Swatara Street, along with properties on the 2100 block of North 4th Street in uptown Harrisburg, East South Street in Carlisle, Herman Avenue in Lemoyne Borough, and Eutaw Ave. in New Cumberland.
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