Berks County hires lawyers to pursue 600 Penn Street
The July 9, 2026 Berks County commissioners meeting: outside counsel to negotiate a possible 600 Penn Street purchase, $599,619 in budget moves, and grants.
By The Berks Beat staff · Published July 10, 2026 · Updated July 10, 2026 · Berks County
The Berks County Board of Commissioners met Thursday, July 9, 2026, and cleared the way to hire outside lawyers for a possible county purchase of 600 Penn Street in downtown Reading. The board approved its agenda by voice vote, which adopted the counsel authorization along with about $600,000 in budget moves and a set of grant and appointment items.
Outside counsel for the 600 Penn Street deal
The board authorized County Solicitor Christine M. Sadler to sign an engagement letter with the law firm Masano Bradley to represent the county in negotiating “the potential purchase of 600 Penn Street, Reading” (item 209.2026 on the agenda).
This hires negotiators. It does not buy the building, and the county has still not made public a purchase price for the tower. 600 Penn Street is the former Wells Fargo office building at Sixth and Penn, a roughly 125,000-square-foot tower with an attached garage. The county announced in May that it wants to turn the building into a centralized government center for about 300 employees, convert the current Services Center into a judicial center, and defer a courthouse renovation now priced near $165 million. Officials have put the purchase-and-renovation cost around $95 million. Our report walks through those numbers.
Hiring counsel is an early step, not a final one. Residents with views on the county buying downtown real estate can still weigh in before any sale agreement is signed. We have argued the county should publish its business case in public first.
$599,619 in budget moves
The board approved shifting $451,573 between existing budget lines (budget transfers) and adding $148,046 in new spending authority (appropriations), item 206.2026. These mid-year adjustments are routine housekeeping. The detailed line-by-line listing sits with the budget office.
The rest of what passed
- Planning Commission reappointment. Gavin Milligan of Blandon was reappointed to the Berks County Planning Commission for another four-year term, through December 30, 2030 (207.2026).
- Workforce grant certification. A certification form for a state Business Education Partnership grant application by the Berks County Workforce Development Board, which funds programs linking students with local employers (208.2026).
- HealthChoices certification. A compliance form for the county’s HealthChoices program, the managed-care arrangement that runs Medicaid behavioral health services (210.2026).
- Violence prevention grant change. A modification to the county’s Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency violence intervention and prevention grant, #44043 (211.2026).
- Routine consent items. The weekly contract listing, payments, and payroll, plus pre-authorization of payments and budget transfers for the week ending July 17.
How the vote worked
Berks commissioners approve their entire agenda with a single voice vote rather than voting on each resolution separately. The meeting video shows the agenda approved after the reading of items, followed by reports from the Treasurer and Controller, commissioners’ comments, and a public comment period. The county had not posted written minutes at publication. Those minutes, approved at a later meeting, are the official record of each resolution, and we will update this recap if they show any change.
The next commissioners’ board meeting scheduled for July 16 has been cancelled, per the county meetings page, so the board’s next regular session comes later in the month.
For how these meetings run and how to speak at one, see our guide. Last week’s meeting is recapped here, and Thursday’s agenda was covered in our preview.