When Charles Chips closed in the early '90s, it left a 210-acre site and several buildings vacant in West Hempfield Township.
Now, those empty buildings are seeing new life. In June, Engle Printing Co. purchased 13 acres and moved into the Charles Chips pretzel factory.
The newly named Stoney Battery Corporate Center is owned by Regency V, a subsidiary of the Murry Companies.
Bill Murry, Regency's managing partner, said 40,000 square feet are currently being added to the Engle Printing building.
Murry became interested in the property when Charles Chips filed for bankruptcy, and the bank sold the land. At that time, though, Murry was not successful in its bid to acquire the site, and the land went to someone else.
Then, the new owners filed for bankruptcy, said Murry, and the land was back on the market.
"We thought it had a lot of potential," he said.
A year and a half ago, the developer bought it and is currently finishing phase one of the infrastructure project.
The site has portions zoned light-industrial and others zoned commercial. The 25 industrial sites vary in size from two to eight acres. There are also several sites which Murry hopes to develop into a retirement community or care facility.
The existing buildings on the site include the chip factory, which is more than 100,000 square feet; a fresh-food storage facility, with about 24,000 square feet; a 10,000-square-foot garage; several barns and storage sheds; and a 5,000-square-foot house.
The Murry Companies is a holding company for Regency V, Murry Construction, and two home-building companies. Bill Murry said the companies do residential, commercial and industrial development.
The Stoney Battery Corporate Center will have extra-wide streets for trucks, concrete curbs, an extra-large water main for fire protection, a new traffic light at the entrance, and retention ponds placed strategically to allow for optimal land usage, according to Andy W. Tompos, real estate director for the Murry Companies.
The developer also plans to widen Stoney Battery Road and extend Church Street and Indian Springs Road through to the Marietta Pike to create easier access and a better traffic pattern.
Murry said pine trees and ponds are being incorporated into the design for aesthetic purposes. "We want to be a good neighbor. There are residential homes across the street," he said.
Murry is confident the park will fill up quickly because of its proximity to Route 30.
According to David Nikoloff, executive director of the Economic Development Co. of Lancaster County, growth in the Stoney Battery corridor is nothing new.
"It's been a growth area. Last year, QVC acquired a former Bulova facility there." he said. explaining that QVC had a site next to the Bulova site and expanded to take it over. "It's a distribution point," he said.
Nikoloff also said the area has seen lots of change in ownership of land in that area.
"There is a whole variety of property on the market there, being sold and developed. There are lots of road improvements," he said.
Nikoloff said the land is attractive because it has already been zoned for commercial and industrial usage. "There's the Weis supermarket that's been there a couple of years. so you see commercial, and some industrial uses further down. We will continue to see growth there. But it's not necessarily new growth. There's a lot of expansion, a lot of reuse."
Another Lancaster developer, John Meeder of Meeder Development Corp., said West Hempfield is "a tremendous location.
"It's a good corridor, the Stoney Battery area. (A new park) is probably going to work," he said.
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