Washington County Takes over Former Fort Ritchie; Plans Mixed-Use Development (Frederick: hotels, townhouses)

[Dequindre]

Several different uses for the land have been discussed with the different companies ranging from retail properties and a waterfront shopping center complete with restaurants and hotels to information technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical firms and research facilities. Investors have also expressed an interest in using the land for academic purposes which would include an international high school and vocational schools.

The existing plan includes residential space — both single-family homes and townhouses - commercial space, retail space, a farmer's market, a movie theater and educational facilities.

Redevelopment plans unveiled for Fort Ritchie - News - Waynesboro Record Herald - Waynesboro, PA - Waynesboro, PA

According to the Herald Mail, a few of Washington County's commissioners are currently in South Korea trying to get letters of intent signed for investments in the property, which will be called "Cascade Town Centre at Fort Ritchie". Officials in Franklin County, PA are also working to help market the property.

[Dequindre]

Their plans certainly are ambitious, but I'm not sure how they're going to pull this off. The site, which is located on top of South Mountain, is VERY isolated. It can really only be accessed through Smithsburg, MD, Blue Ridge Summit, PA, and PenMar/Rouzerville, PA, and those roads are all twisty and comprised of only two lanes. It will be interesting to see if Washington County can pull this off. Because the site is so close to Franklin and Frederick Counties as well, perhaps all three could pull together and work something out.

[htownterp]

I agree....I doubt it can be pulled off. They have a saying up there, "so close to heaven, so far from Hagerstown." It's very isolated and though it is in Washington County, you could walk to Franklin and Adams County PA and Frederick County, MD. Kind of a no mans land near Site R. We'll see...it is pretty up there. Whatever development there is will no doubt impact Franklin County PA/Waynesboro in a positive way.

[LudditeMan]

It's not that isolated like you guys make it out to be.. I go up there all the time, and it's all state highway routes.. You don't actually go through the town of Smithsburg, but you do pass it.
As for will this be successful? As a bedroom community sure, other than that probably not... The issue really isn't will it be successful, but do they have the public resources, schools, etc..
Cascade will probably have to form a police department, they might need expansion of EMS services, a new elementary school... Yeah..
It's MUCH MUCH more than just we'll build houses and it'll be great.

[Dequindre]

Its success may depend on what the educational and business firms they're able to attract. Are these going to be small educational facilities with only a handful of classrooms, or will they be full branch campuses? Will these new commercial/business firms require only a handful of small buildings, or will they require something more like a corporate campus? It will be interesting to see what the county commissioners come back with.

As far as homes go, it shouldn't be hard to find a homebuilder willing to build there (assuming that the development does consist of educational facilities, offices, retail, dining, etc. as promised). Developers in the area have had success developing.building large homes in more isolated areas (Links at Gettysburg, Penn National, the planned Fox Gap in Boonsboro, Greencastle Greens), so there definitely seems to be some demand in the market. It should be even easier to build as the road network and utilities have already been established (at least partially).

[Dequindre]

Did you guys live in the area when Fort Ritchie closed? If so, what immediate impact did it have on the area? I'm kind of curious about what people thought back then.

[Dequindre]

It's kind of hard to read that map, but here's what I can gather:

1. Academic: The pink buildings arranged around the circle are represented as academic space. A parking garage is shown to the Southwest of that area (in white).

2. Pharmaceutical: The former Commissary and another adjacent building are labeled pharmaceutical. They're shown in the medium shade of blue near the bottom left.

3. Commercial: These buildings are shown in red. They sit on the site of what I assume were once barracks.

4. Outdoor theater: This space is shown in gray behind the hotel/conference center.

5. Conference center and hotel: This building is shown in a light shade of yellow to the left of the roundabout.

6. Health and wellness: These buildings are located on the left of the map (closer to the woods) and shown in dark blue. It seems like they have quite a bit of space dedicated to health and wellness uses.

7. Movie theater: This one kind of baffles me, especially considering that Waynesboro and Leitersburg both have theaters nearby. At any rate, this building is the burgundy rectangle at the top right.

8. Retail: These ones are kind of hard to find on this map. There is a small retail strip shown in light blue above Lake Royer near the proposed movie theater.

9. Single family residential: Those little white rectangles represent single family homes. They seem to be mainly concentrated in areas that are currently wooded, so the lots should be quite nice. In our area, it's not easy to find wooded lots like that.

10. Townhome residential: Townhomes are represented with dark pink rectangles. Most of these seem to be located between the single family homes and the other various uses. It will be interesting to see if they're able to sell that many upscale townhomes. I know that they're quite popular in the Frederick area, but a bit less so in Hagerstown. Luxury townhomes are virtually nonexistent in nearby Waynesboro.

11. Existing service facilities: Those blue buildings adjacent to Ritchie Rd. are apparently facilities that service the area.

12. (?): I can't really read what they're designating the orange buildings as, but a few of those are already in use (such as Fort Ritchie Community Center, Lakeside Hall, etc.). One of the larger orange buildings is labeled as a farmer's market, so maybe these are more recreational/community type buildings.



Overall, it seems like a solid mix. I guess it all hinges on what employers, educational institutes, retailers, etc. that they're able to attract. This has been a site of many good intentions before, but nothing ever seemed to pan out. I'm really hoping that positive things will happen this time.

[LudditeMan]

Originally Posted by Dequindre

It's kind of hard to read that map, but here's what I can gather:

1. Academic: The pink buildings arranged around the circle are represented as academic space. A parking garage is shown to the Southwest of that area (in white).

2. Pharmaceutical: The former Commissary and another adjacent building are labeled pharmaceutical. They're shown in the medium shade of blue near the bottom left.

3. Commercial: These buildings are shown in red. They sit on the site of what I assume were once barracks.

4. Outdoor theater: This space is shown in gray behind the hotel/conference center.

5. Conference center and hotel: This building is shown in a light shade of yellow to the left of the roundabout.

6. Health and wellness: These buildings are located on the left of the map (closer to the woods) and shown in dark blue. It seems like they have quite a bit of space dedicated to health and wellness uses.

7. Movie theater: This one kind of baffles me, especially considering that Waynesboro and Leitersburg both have theaters nearby. At any rate, this building is the burgundy rectangle at the top right.

8. Retail: These ones are kind of hard to find on this map. There is a small retail strip shown in light blue above Lake Royer near the proposed movie theater.

9. Single family residential: Those little white rectangles represent single family homes. They seem to be mainly concentrated in areas that are currently wooded, so the lots should be quite nice. In our area, it's not easy to find wooded lots like that.

10. Townhome residential: Townhomes are represented with dark pink rectangles. Most of these seem to be located between the single family homes and the other various uses. It will be interesting to see if they're able to sell that many upscale townhomes. I know that they're quite popular in the Frederick area, but a bit less so in Hagerstown. Luxury townhomes are virtually nonexistent in nearby Waynesboro.

11. Existing service facilities: Those blue buildings adjacent to Ritchie Rd. are apparently facilities that service the area.

12. (?): I can't really read what they're designating the orange buildings as, but a few of those are already in use (such as Fort Ritchie Community Center, Lakeside Hall, etc.). One of the larger orange buildings is labeled as a farmer's market, so maybe these are more recreational/community type buildings.



Overall, it seems like a solid mix. I guess it all hinges on what employers, educational institutes, retailers, etc. that they're able to attract. This has been a site of many good intentions before, but nothing ever seemed to pan out. I'm really hoping that positive things will happen this time.

It'll be a bedroom community, nothing more.

[htownterp]

Can't remember too much about Fort Ritchie, but it did seem to have an impact on Smithsburg area in the sense that the school enrollment dropped a bit. I think the base was small, don't think it was a huge change to the community.

[DubyaM]

Driving through there I always wondered about Camp Louise across the road from an Army camp.