New Developer, New Plan

It’s been more than a year since the Derry Township Board of Supervisors approved a plan for a six-story apartment building at the site of the former Hershey Lumber Yard off West Chocolate Avenue.

The building would provide long-term housing for Hershey Entertainment & Resorts (HE&R) employees and short-term housing for prospective students, and their families, of the Milton Hershey School.

However, since the plan was approved in March of 2024, Hershey Entertainment & Resorts has taken the lead on the project, which was previously going to be developed by the Hershey Trust Company.

Several changes, most notably the style of the building, have since been made to the plan.

As a result, the project had to be re-submitted as a land development plan and will again need approval from the Derry Township Board of Supervisors.

On Tuesday, April 1, the Derry Township Planning Commission recommend that the Board of Supervisors approve the new plan.

Other notable changes to the plan include a 13,000 square foot reduction in the overall footprint of the apartment building, and a reduction in the amount of dwelling units by 16, bringing the total to 102 units. The parking spaces will also decrease from 145 to 118 spaces.

However, the development will also have more green space, as the plan now includes the .61 acre tract of land where Mike Leonard’s Plumbing, which is moving to Old West Chocolate Avenue, was located.

Chris Brown, the director of planning and design at Hershey Entertainment and Resorts, said the new plan is, “a very similar project … just a little bit tighter and a little bit more efficient.”

As for the style of the project, Brown said HE&R moved away from the “industrial look” of the project, which paid homage to the Hershey Lumber Yard, and designed it to be more “in scale” with the surrounding area.

“There is a lot of authentic industrial buildings in downtown Hershey, and they are not quite this tall and are not this massive,” Brown said.

The development will result in several traffic-related changes, most notably prohibiting left turns from L Street – the street adjacent to Duck Donuts – onto West Chocolate Avenue between the hours of 3-6 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays.

The next Derry Township Board of Supervisors meeting is Tuesday, April 8.

Lumber Yard History

The Hershey Lumber Company, the successor of Hershey Improvement Company, operated from 1927 until 1971. A few months after its closure, a fire broke out, decimating the building. Today, a concrete pad – occasionally used as a skateboard park – is the largest reminder of the business there.

However, during its 40-plus years in operation, the Lumber Company’s employees constructed public buildings like The Hotel Hershey and Hershey Sports Arena, and made wooden furniture that was sold at Hershey Department Store.

Original post appears here.