The Real Estate Collaborative LLC, a subsidiary created this summer by the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp. to buy and clean up abandoned sites, has two projects in the works.
The organization, which formed in August, announced last week that it has decided to move forward with a project in Shippensburg and one in Carlisle.
The Shippensburg project entails demolition and remediation of the Domestic Castings property at 245 N. Queen St., an eight-acre site with 112,000 square feet of industrial space adjacent to Shippensburg University.
Acquiring, demolishing and preparing the property for redevelopment will cost about $1 million. The goal is to pave the way for a large mixed-use project that could complement the community and the university, the organization said.
A developer has not yet been identified, but the Real Estate Collaborative expects it could cost about $30 million to build 100,000 square feet of new commercial space on the site, plus about 124,000 square feet of market-rate apartment units.
In Carlisle, the collaborative is looking to revamp the Carlisle United Methodist Church on South West Street. In recent years, the church merged with two other congregations and it now needs more space and parking.
The church plans to construct a new facility in South Middleton Township, which would open up the 62,000-square-foot building in Carlisle for mixed uses, according to the collaborative. The site could house a blend of residential units, shops, restaurants and galleries as the church property is close to Dickinson College, the Penn State Dickinson School of Law and downtown businesses.
Redevelopment costs are currently being studied, officials said.
CAEDC committed to spend $150,000 over three years to launch the Real Estate Collaborative. The plan is to leverage those dollars to attract money from other local, state and federal programs.
