Developer of Target mall plans mix of stores, offices, housing.
By Tim Mekeel
Updated Feb 19, 2007 15:58
The stockyards’ shareholders have agreed to sell the 22-acre property to a Staten Island, N.Y., developer who plans to put a mix of stores, offices and housing there.
By a unanimous vote, the 40-some shareholders decided Tuesday to sell the tract to TCH Realty & Development.
TCH last year opened the Covered Bridge Marketplace shopping center on Lincoln Highway East. That mall is anchored by the county’s first Target store.
The dilapidated stockyards property, bounded by Lititz Pike and Marshall Avenue on the city’s northern edge, is zoned central manufacturing.
While city officials have balked at rezoning the land for just retail, they have said they’d be open to rezoning the land for mixed use, as TCH intends.
TCH’s specific plans for the site are not known. However, another developer who proposed a mixed-use project there would have spent $30 million to $40 million on the venture.
Other projects by TCH have included prominent retailers such as Wegmans supermarkets and Dick’s Sporting Goods.
Stockyards officials referred a reporter’s questions about the development to TCH president Tim Harrison, who could not be reached for comment this morning.
However, they lauded Harrison as a worthy buyer of the property, which has a 111-year legacy as a stockyards — once the busiest east of Chicago.
“Tim Harrison’s reputation for doing what he’ll say he’ll do is outstanding,” said Connie Dunlap Santarelli, the stockyards’ largest shareholder.
“He’s a straight shooter and we like that. We felt comfortable with him,” she added.
Stockyards’ attorney Clarence Kegel said, “The stockholders and the board of directors were very impressed with his ability, his integrity and his interest in doing a good project for the Lancaster community.”
Pat McCoy, president of the stockyards’ board, said in a prepared statement that Harrison was selected based on the terms he offered and his “impressive qualifications as a regional developer.”
Although the price Harrison agreed to pay was not disclosed, an earlier bidder, Bethlehem developer Joe Posh, had offered to pay $5.3 million for the land.
McCoy noted that the agreement with TCH prohibits the development of a slots parlor or other kind of gambling facility there.
The stockyards had been mentioned as a possible site of a Lancaster slots parlor in recent months, though the local plan since has fallen through.
“Lancaster Stockyards is confident TCH Realty will develop the property in a first-class manner consistent with the desires of the City of Lancaster, surrounding neighbors and the Lancaster Gateway Plan,” said McCoy.
The Gateway Plan is an ongoing effort by county and municipal officials to coordinate their vision for the northern edge of the city and the adjoining southern edge of Manheim Township.
McCoy said finalization of the sale to TCH Realty would hinge on the developer’s plan winning approval from the city, among other conditions.
The stockyards opened in 1895 on what was then the undeveloped fringe of the city. Its acreage excludes the Stockyard Inn, which is a separate and independent business.
In its heyday in the mid-20th century, the stockyards was the biggest on the East Coast, handling hundreds of thousands of head annually. But in recent years, volume plunged, as farmers turned to other ways of selling their livestock.
With volume falling to its current trickle and the property’s condition worsening, offers from developers have arrived more frequently.
Several earlier proposals were for shopping centers, which fizzled when city officials balked at rezoning the site, holding out hope that an industrial user would materialize.
Now, while city planners still dislike the idea of a shopping center there, they see a mixed-use venture as a wise way of rekindling vitality.
A request to rezone the land first would be reviewed by city and county planners. They make their recommendations to City Council, which would have final say.
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