Union Community Care has purchased the third floor of the building at 454 New Holland Ave. in Lancaster and is planning to move its administrative offices there this fall, its spokesperson said Monday.
County records show that the nonprofit health care organization paid $2.75 million for the space, which is upstairs from the Lancaster Science Factory. It is under a condominium arrangement, so Union Community Care is the owner, not a tenant.
The acquisition means that Union Community Care no longer needs space for an administrative headquarters at the former Groff Event Center, the building at 234 W. Orange St. that it acquired last fall.
The plan had been to divide the Groff building between administrative space and a community health center; now, it can be devoted exclusively to the latter, Union Community Care Chief Communiations Officer Nicole Specht said.
The organization anticipates relocating 53 administrative staff to 454 New Holland Ave. by the end of October, Specht said. They will take up about three-quarters of the 21,600 square feet of available space, leaving the remainder to accommodate future growth.
While the space has been vacant for a while, it is in excellent condition, Specht said: All it needs is some cleaning and a fresh coat of paint, and it will be ready to go. The most recent tenant there was Murray, a local insurance firm, she said.
Most of the relocated staff will be moving from Union Community Care’s administrative building in the 800 block of North Prince Street, just north of Clipper Magazine Stadium. Originally, the organization had planned to vacate that site at the end of 2023 to make way for an expansion of Stadium Row Apartments. However, it was able to extend its lease and remain there this year, Specht said.
Union Community Care is still working through its plans for the former Groff building, and deciding what mix of services can be added in the areas originally reserved for administration. The nonprofit hopes to open there sometime in 2025, Specht said.
Union Community Care serves Lancaster and Lebanon counties at more than more than 20 locations, including several school-based clinics, serving more than 40,000 clients a year. It is a federally qualified health center, specializing in providing care to underserved populations and communities, and charging on a sliding scale based on ability to pay.
