Eight stories tall, 100 units strong. One address two towns. Rohrer Towers II is located on 300 West Crystal Lake Avenue with a Haddonfield mailing address and ZIP code, but is located on the border, inside the limits of Haddon Township. Generally that’s not a huge deal. Today it’s an important detail because the building is the subject of multiple headlines, with an ownership sale, a new tax agreement on the books, and a pending legal case finally concluded.
Focus first on the deal affecting the residents, a 30 year Payment In Lieu Of Taxes agreement, because that’s the vital sign most needed by those senior citizens living in the apartments. The township board voted to authorize the sale to Standard Rohrer Venture Urban Renewal LP, which will renovate the complex, secure in the knowledge that they will have a predictable tax burden for the 30 year period. In turn, Haddon Township will get a steady, dependable stream of revenue from whichever entity owns the building for the next three decades, rather than trying to budget with the uncertainty of annual property tax collections from a building under active construction.
Most important of all is why this specific financing structure was chosen for this specific building. It’s designed to ensure that current residents pay no higher rents while the work takes place, an outcome that’s far too often not the case for similar projects. This new ownership structure is set to allow the necessary funding for the renovations to happen, without increased costs on the people most needing the services offered by this township.
The renovations themselves aren’t chintzy fixes either. The township is set to see the entire building’s interiors refurbished, with building common areas and the units themselves receiving much needed updates. The building, constructed in 1979, serves the critical function of providing subsidized housing to seniors, and has done so for almost 50 years now. The work on this particular building is scheduled to happen late 2025 into early or mid-2027, so improvements can be expected to visibly update the complex in the near future.
That function of providing subsidized housing to seniors is a key detail when it comes to the importance of this complex to the township, as is it’s location near the Westmont PATCO station, a half mile or so from the stop on foot, allowing residents to easily access the transportation system linking Haddon Township to Center City Philadelphia. Being within the township’s school district boundaries is an added bonus for the residents, most of whom are likely to already own cars, but for those amongst them who don’t drive or can’t drive the access to a regional public transportation system is a huge benefit. These are all benefits to the residents, not just the township, which has reason enough to want to keep them.
The other major issue tied to this building for some time, a shooting fatality in 2024, had its legal matter concluded this week as well. The case against Haddon Township Police Officer Luke Falkenberg was closed by a NJ grand jury, who voted to not indict the officer in the shooting death of an individual at the complex. The vote came after the full state police investigation into the shooting during a November 2025 burglary call ended, with the grand jury finding no criminal charges were warranted against Falkenberg for the fatality. The vote represents the legal matter’s conclusion, as far as the state is concerned, and serves as a sort of resolution for the family of the victim and the township itself as well.
I think it’s important that news outlets report on such matters with the resolution or lack thereof, rather than with only partial information. That’s why I bring it up here, because details like this tend to be forgotten when not properly documented. Grand juries serve the civic purpose of reviewing such evidence and deciding for themselves whether criminal charges should be brought, and that process can be very important. Such information should be presented with as much care as possible.
Consider, if you will, all these factors and their effects, and you’ll see that Rohrer Towers II is getting off to a solid new chapter in its history. A new owner, a tax agreement designed to keep the residents safe and happy, renovations befitting the complex’s long service to the township, and resolution of the high profile shooting case from 2024. None of this takes away the tragedy of that fatality or Falkenberg’s harassment of residents, but it goes a very long way towards improving this township and its residents’ everyday lives.
