Cumberland Valley School District recorded its largest
September enrollment since 2005 as 80 students entered the district after the
first day of school.
The continued growth of the student body, which already
has prompted officials to commit to a new Good Hope Middle School and explore
building an eighth elementary school, can be traced — at least partially — to
land development plans and construction activity in two of the district’s four
townships.
Hampden and Silver Spring townships have accounted for
more than 25 percent of residential building permits issued in Cumberland
County since 1998, according to county planning data. They lead all
municipalities over that period.
Silver Spring Township — home of the high school and
administrative campus — had the most housing permits in the county in each of
the last four years. It has averaged 221 per year during that span.
The two municipalities also have garnered a similar
percentage of commercial and industrial permits since 2000, with Silver Spring
Township leading the county with 147.
“We’re seeing metropolitan Harrisburg pushing growth out
in our direction,” said Frederick Withum III, the district’s superintendent.
“Some of it is the result of the region expanding. The second part is the
result of CV being a highly desirable place to raise a family.”
A buffet of housing developments under construction gives
prospective buyers plenty of options. The location of the district — close to
the state capital, with easy access to major highways — and continued
nonresidential development along the Carlisle Pike help bolster quality of
life.
“For people in CV, everything is so convenient,” said
Ellen Reichenbach, a mortgage loan originator with New Jersey-based Maverick
Funding Corp.
Nonresidential development — from automotive dealerships
to sprawling retail and dining options — has kept property taxes low in
comparison to surrounding districts. Plus, CV has a strong academic track
record, said Reichenbach, who works in Lemoyne and processes a lot of loans in
the district.
Ongoing development
Much of her workload is connected to RSR Realtors. The
Lemoyne-based residential and commercial brokerage has been fairly active in
new home sales over the last few years with the development of its Millfording
Highlands and Millfording Preserve projects along Sample Bridge Road in Silver
Spring Township.
“The commute is a big issue,” said Garrett Rothman,
associate broker and partner, adding that about 20 percent of buyers in the
Millfording communities have been people relocating for work in the Harrisburg
area. “And they like new construction and new neighborhoods.”
A higher volume of new construction pushes up average
sale prices. Cumberland Valley home sales totaled more than 900 over the last
year, Rothman said, with the average sale price around $286,000.
“It’s hard to build a single-family home under $300,000
(in CV),” he said, citing about 300 sales in Silver Spring Township with an
average price of $306,000. “In these price points, we’re talking white-collar
jobs, it’s the second or third home (they have bought) and they have the equity
to put 20 percent down.”
With Hampden Township mostly built out and Silver Spring
Township surging, future development in CV is likely moving west toward
Middlesex Township. The RSR partners recently purchased a 137-acre farm at
South Middlesex and Claremont roads in Middlesex Township for $2.3 million.
Plans are still in their “infancy” for a yet-to-be named
community that could include about 200 single-family homes, starting in the low
$300,000s.
Withum is awaiting development plans. Meanwhile, he’s
also watching the turnover rate of existing homes, which has driven the larger
share of enrollment growth.
Clusters of homes built in the 1970s and 1980s propelled
district growth in the 1990s and 2000s, he said. Those properties are turning
over again.
“We don’t need space just for the kids we anticipate
coming. We need space for the kids who are already here,” Withum said of the
district’s future building projects.
Source: Central
Penn Business Journal
No comments:
Post a Comment