The Lancaster County Redevelopment Authority is now planning to build a homelessness services hub on South Prince Street that is not two stories tall, but three.
The added floor will provide more room for transitional housing and supportive housing, authority Executive Director Justin Eby said.
The authority and its design team are still working through the details, Eby told One United Lancaster Tuesday after the authority’s monthly board meetings.
Final decisions on the number of units in each category are pending, as is an updated budget estimate.
The choice to go to three stories was made after the authority learned it would have to largely demolish the former Neighborhood Services building at the hub site, 134 S. Prince St.
Initially, the plan had been to retain the building and add a second floor. However, that can’t be done because it lacks a proper foundation and would not support the added weight.
So, the hub will instead be built from scratch, from the ground up. In that case, given the level of community need, it made sense to expand the project, Eby said.
Plans for the ground floor remain much the same as before, he said. They include a day center with offices and space for partner service providers to work with clients, and shelter space that can be used to supplement other city shelters during high-demand periods.
The timeline for the project has been pushed back several times. At this point, the earliest it would likely open is the spring of 2026, he said.
The authority is planning to appear before the city Zoning Hearing Board in January. It previously secured approvals for the project but needs the board to sign off on several additional adjustments.
The most recent publicly disclosed construction cost estimate, $7.2 million, is many months old. It was developed when the plan still called for preserving the existing building.
Besides the Neighborhood Services building, the project is to incorporate a former church and a wood-frame building that front Water Street; and the adjacent townhouse to the north at 132 N. Prince St.
As a two-story complex, the hub was to have 19,000 square feet. The Neighborhood Services building’s footprint — the envelope for the envisioned third floor — is about 8,700 square feet, according to county records.
The project is being developed by the Lancaster Redevelopment Fund, a nonprofit administered by the authority. As a nonprofit, the Redevelopment Fund can pursue grants, both private and governmental, and is doing so in connection with the hub project.
The authority also houses the office of the Lancaster County Homelessness Coalition, which coordinates homelessness services and allocates associated federal funding countywide.
