Luxury apartments, new retail space coming to Montgomery Ward store in downtown Hanover

Teresa Boeckel
Hanover Evening Sun

New life is coming for a blighted, former department store in downtown Hanover with plans to turn it into luxury apartments and commercial space.

The building at 34 Frederick St., which was built in 1929 for a Montgomery Ward Department Store, has been vacant for years, according to a news release from the York County Economic Alliance.

Integrated Development Partners, LLC of Wormleysburg, Cumberland County bought the property in 2020 to redevelop it with the assistance of state and local grants.

Plans call for creating 16 luxury apartments and offering 3,000-square-feet of retail space at street level. Work is expected to begin later this month, said Jonathan C. Bowser, managing partner of real estate holdings.

A blighted building in Hanover will be getting a makeover and turned into apartments with retail space.

"There is a need in Hanover for more luxury apartments in walkable areas," Bowser said in an email. "People like apartments that have character and this building has that."

With the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, it's unknown what the need will be for commercial space, he said, but "we feel like we have an excellent space and location to hopefully lease up this year."

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The property had been awarded a $1.4 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant before the company bought it, Bowser said.

The developer also is receiving a $112,500 reimbursement grant from the York County Land Bank Authority to help with the interior demolition. The money comes from a demolition recording fee ordinance established by the York County commissioners a few years ago, according to the York County Economic Alliance.

"This project will create construction jobs, drive over $3 million in new investment, provide necessary housing in the borough, and remove a blighted property in the borough’s core downtown district,” Bowser said in the release.

The apartments will range from 700 square feet to 1,300 square feet, Bowser said. They will have mid-grade cabinets, luxury vinyl plank flooring, stainless steel appliances, and exposed duct work in the common areas.

The retail space, which will total 3,000-square-feet, can be divided into two. It will be roughed out for a potential restaurant, he said.

For Main Street Hanover, the project is "incredibly exciting" to see a blighted property being redeveloped to bring in commercial and residential tenants, executive director Justine Trucksess said.

The building sits across from the long-vacant Hanover Theater, which also could be remodeled. The hope is that the two would feed off of each other and boost the vitality of the corridor, she said.

Integrated Development Partners expects to complete the project in late September and have it occupied around the same time, Bowser said.