Hundreds of homes may be headed to Lancaster County. And no, it’s not in Indian Land
Hundreds of new homes at $300,000 or more each could come to Lancaster.
Homebuilding company D.R. Horton applied to have 121 acres annexed into the city. The company plans to build 273 homes. The property is on the east side of U.S. 521, or Charlotte Highway, about two miles north of the bypass cloverleaf in Lancaster.
Annexation into the city would allow municipal police and fire protection, plus cluster development to allow those homes with the new zoning. The company acquired property at 2081 Charlotte Highway to make the larger piece of property contiguous to city limits, and eligible for annexation.
According to information from the city, homes would start in the $300s price range. An average price of $345,000 would generate more than $675,000 in new tax revenue at full buildout.
A concept plan submitted by the developer shows more than 135 total acres with some acreage west of the main highway, where there’s an existing driving range. Homes are in two sections, with a large open space and stream between them. Fewer than a dozen homes would front Charlotte Highway.
More than half the homes would be nearer the highway in an area that includes amenity space. A connection from those homes across the open space and stream leads to more than 100 homes on the eastern part of the property, along two cul-de-sacs and several connecting roads.
Lancaster City Council meets Tuesday night and will hear the annexation requests for four properties. The decisions will be significant for the city.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city had a population of 8,460 at the 2020 Census. That figure was down by about 60 residents from the prior census, a decade earlier. The 2020 population is roughly the same as the city had in 2000, and is lower than recorded counts in 1990, 1980 or 1970.
The city had almost 3,900 total housing units in 2020. The number of new homes planned with the D.R. Horton application would represent 7% of that total. Just 13% of all Lancaster homes are valued at $300,000 or more, according to the census bureau, and only 5.6% of homes fall in the $300,000 to $500,000 range.
The city has a home ownership rate of less than 44%, compared to the state average of almost 72%.
This story was originally published September 26, 2022 at 12:13 PM.
