Ten years after Red Rose Commons opened, shopping center developers are on the verge of agreeing to buy the property across the road.

The 71-acre cornfield at Route 30 and Fruitville Pike is being eyed for a retail complex nearly as big as its decade-old neighbor.

"Clearly, the objective of any of the (potential) buyers is to have as much commercial use of the property as possible," said Dwight Wagner, who is listing the land for sale.

The field on the southeast corner of the intersection is the largest part of Belmont Farm, being sold by the estate of Aaron Hess. The farm consists of three tracts, totaling 92 acres.

The developers are bidding on all three tracts as a single package, said Wagner, president of U.S. Commercial Realty.

If the largest parcel becomes a shopping center, the Manheim Township site could be the sixth along a one-mile stretch of the heavily traveled commercial artery.

Besides Red Rose Commons, the strip already has the Kmart Plaza, Foxshire Plaza and Hawthorne Center (anchored by Wal-Mart).

In addition, the proposed Granite Town Center in the Granite Run Corporate Center recently won township approval despite opposition from nearby residents.

However, for the largest Hess parcel to join the list of Fruitville Pike shopping centers, it would have to be rezoned by the township from R-3, which allows townhouses, apartments or other high-density housing.

"There's no provision in R-3 for anything else," said township Commissioner Carol Simpson, who has oversight of the township's planning and zoning.

But, given the tract's location at a major intersection, it would be logical for the township to consider a rezoning to allow non-residential development there, she said.

"Non-residential doesn't only mean retail. Our position is, we will be very interested in talking to the developers and trying to find a solution that will be acceptable to everyone," Simpson said.

That would include residents of the Glen Moore neighborhood, she emphasized. The neighborhood abuts the Hess tract's southern and eastern edges.

"We have pledged to the residents there that, whatever happens, we will find a way of buffering their properties," she said.

If a rezoning for retail should take place, the 71-acre parcel could be developed into 350,000 to 400,000 square feet of stores, plus a hotel and perhaps offices, Wagner estimates.

A center of that size would be close to the 463,000 square feet of Red Rose Commons, the county's third-largest mall, a "power center" featuring "big-box" stores such as Home Depot and Sports Authority.

That $45 million project opened after five years of municipal approvals and construction, considerably smaller than the $60 million, 660,000-square-foot version first proposed.

Wagner said the Hess farm, which was offered for sale in September, drew initial interest from 30 prospective buyers. Eleven ultimately made offers.

Two rounds of bidding whittled the list of contenders to a final pair. They submitted their third offers Friday. The winner will be selected soon; a sales agreement is expected to be signed by mid-January, Wagner said.

Wagner declined to identify the pair of finalists, except to say each is a partnership of developers. Each partnership already has holdings in Lancaster County, he said.

He also declined to disclose the bid amounts. He did say that the Hess estate is "very pleased" with the offers; the estate had set a target price of $23 million for the farm.

Wagner was not surprised that the farm drew strong interest from shopping center developers during a recession that's been extremely harsh on retailers and mall owners.

He said the site's prime location far outweighed the current economic conditions — conditions that are likely to change by the time a new center gets under way.

"It will take two to three years to get all the approvals needed for a project of this size. That will give the market time to right-size itself," Wagner said.

Whether the successful bidder chooses to retain the smaller two tracts remains to be seen, he said.

These two smaller tracts consist of 15 acres north of Route 30, off Hess Boulevard, zoned residential, and six acres west of Fruitville Pike, zoned industrial.

The six-acre tract is known for its elegant three-story farmhouse, constructed in the 1870s, a stately barn behind it and other white farm buildings.

Wagner said the final pair of bidders "certainly are aware" that the township wants the historic structures preserved.

Simpson said, "It's a magnificent property that nobody wants to see razed."