After 4 years, plan advances for $100M of stores, hotel & housing opposite Long's Park

It seems like the proposed Crossings at Conestoga Creek on Harrisburg Pike, opposite Long’s Park, has been hibernating for years.

Well, now it’s waking up.

High Real Estate Group — with an anchor tenant in hand — is advancing its plan for a $100 million mix of stores, restaurants, apartments and a hotel.

“When we got a commitment from this particular anchor, it was an indication to us that we’ve got a ‘go’ project,” said H. Stephen Evans of High Associates Ltd., part of High Real Estate Group.

So High Associates will present a preliminary land development plan to the Manheim Township Planning Commission at its Wednesday meeting.

The meeting starts at 6:30 p.m. in the township building, 1840 Municipal Drive.

Evans, senior vice president and managing director of the retail division, declined to name the anchor, saying a confidentiality agreement forbids it for the time being.

He did say that High Associates has had “many requests” from the public to consider this retailer for The Crossings.

The retailer itself has had “a high level of requests” to come to Lancaster, said Evans, predicting the public will be “thrilled” by its arrival.

Related: 10 traffic upgrades planned with The Crossings

If The Crossings wins township and other approvals, High Real Estate Group hopes to start construction in August or September 2016 and open sometime in 2018.

Assuming the plan comes to fruition, The Crossings will pack a powerful economic impact.

It will employ an estimated 713 workers, generate $7.5 million in annual sales, wage and business taxes, and pay $2.0 million in annual property taxes.

Manheim Township School District will get the bulk of the property taxes — $1.5 million. Another $300,000 will go to the county and $200,000 to the township.

The site now generates $29,000 a year in total property taxes, with $22,000 to the school district. That’s 1.5 percent of the property taxes it’s forecast to generate as The Crossings.

Project evolves

The Crossings first made headlines in 2006 when High Real Estate Group unveiled its first plan for the 90-acre  site between Toys R Us and the Lancaster Post Office.

At that time, The Crossings was envisioned as 650,000 square feet of retail space.

That would have made The Crossings the second biggest shopping center in the county, behind only nearby Park City Center.

But the Great Recession, which ran from December 2007 to June 2009, dampened enthusiasm for developing large amounts of new retail space.

High Real Estate Group revamped its plan accordingly in 2011, reflecting what one company official called “the new world order.”

In the revised plan, retail space got trimmed to 211,000 square feet, but 258 upscale apartments and a hotel with up to 135 rooms were added.

The project won zoning approval as a conditional use — with 52 conditions — late that same year.

But much work remains to bring the plan to life.

Since then, High Real Estate Group has settled legal challenges to the project, secured its anchor tenant, fine-tuned the housing side of the plan and figured out how to meet new federal environmental regulations.

So while the project appeared idle from a public perspective for the past four years, High Real Estate Group was busy moving it forward.

Now The Crossings is ready to return to public view.

High Real Estate Group has filed a preliminary land development plan. If that preliminary plan passes muster, then a final plan will be submitted.

The Planning Commission is an advisory body. The township’s five-member Board of Commissioners has final say.

Planning Commission’s review

Evans said its presentation to the Planning Commission will focus on demonstrating “how our plan and our intent complies with those (52) conditions.”

Lancaster-based High Real Estate Group is in a position to address all those points by itself because, unlike many mixed-use ventures, the project is being done entirely by one parent company and its affiliates.

For instance, affiliate High Associates is handling the development, leasing and management. Affiliate Greenfield Architects is doing the design and affiliate High Construction will be the builder.

In many mixed-use projects, the retailer, hotelier and housing developer are unrelated, said Evans. One of them takes the lead and moves its piece forward first, then sells or leases land to the others.

Though the components of The Crossings have morphed over the years, the project will retain its pedestrian-friendly, Main Street ambiance, as required by the conditional uses, said Evans.

The retail area will have benches, a water feature (such as a fountain), a fire pit or fireplace, stamped and colored sidewalks, pocket parks and raised crosswalks, designed to slow traffic.

This type of crosswalk is now on College Avenue past Franklin & Marshall College.

The perimeter of the site will have a walking and biking path. On the west end, it will connect to Noel Dorwart Park in adjoining East Hempfield Township. On the east end, it will connect to Long’s Park.

The west edge, bounded by the Little Conestoga Creek, will get an interpretative trail, with signs explaining the importance of wetlands, storm water management, riparian buffers and other features.

The existing riparian buffer (a strip of vegetation that shields a waterway from the impact of land use) along the Little Conestoga Creek will get protected by a new buffer with fresh plantings of vegetation.

A farmhouse, parts of which date to 1799, on the southwest quadrant of the property will be preserved. But High Real Estate Group has yet to decide how to use it.

Harrisburg Pike upgrades

Road improvements will remain a significant part of the project. (See related story for details.)

Most notably, Harrisburg Pike between the Norfolk Southern underpass and Route 30 will be widened to include four lanes and turning lanes.

“If you drive along Harrisburg Pike past Woodcrest Villa and the health campus, the road system there will be what we have here,” said Evans.

Road improvements will be completed before The Crossings opens, said Ken Hornbeck, vice president of development for High Associates.

High Real Estate Group will spend $8 million to $9 million on those road upgrades, he said. On top of that, it will pay a $2.2 million traffic impact fee to Manheim Township.

Here’s a closer look at the three types of buildings that will comprise The Crossings.

The unidentified anchor tenant will take a little more than half of the retail area, which could be much as 211,000 square feet.

The balance of the retail space, separated from the anchor tenant by a parking lot, will consist of about 20 stores and restaurants.

At least 21,000 square feet will be earmarked for small tenants of 5,000 square feet or less, to give the area a “Main Street” ambiance.

The hotel will be 125 to 135 rooms, as large as 75,000 square feet and standing four stories tall.

 It will be built on the north edge of property, directly behind Toys R Us, so it’s easily visible from Route 30. The brand or “flag” of the hotel has yet to be selected.

The 258 upscale apartments, in one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom configurations, will be housed in six buildings that also stand four stories tall.

With enclosed corridors and elevators, these will be the county’s first multi-story apartment buildings with elevators outside Lancaster city.

They also will be the first in High Associates’ portfolio of 2,000-plus units from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, said J. Bradford Mowbray, senior vice president and managing director of High Associates’ residential division.

The apartments will be on the west side of The Crossings, overlooking the wetlands and Little Conestoga Creek, to give residents an optimal view, said Mowbray.

Amenities will include a clubhouse with a fitness center and community room, an outdoor pool, one-story garages and proximity to recreation, retail and numerous workplaces.

“We think it’s an ideal location,” said Mowbray, “because it’s situated between the city and the health campus. We’re hoping it appeals to a wide variety of young professionals.”

Source: Lancaster Online