North Cornwall Commons breaks ground on fourth apartment building

North Cornwall Commons officially broke ground on the fourth apartment building Wednesday morning.

Set to contain 104 units (including studio-, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments) over five stories, the apartment building will also include a gaming lounge for residents, a grooming station for residents’ dogs, a sauna, and a circuit gym, said community manager Kelly Wertz.

The groundbreaking ceremony was held at the development site, where workers have already begun construction.

“As we’ve been working on the planning and design for this, it starts to become a routine, and I think we lose how special this is,” real estate director Mike Swank said before the ceremony.

“This is a very unique project for Lebanon County; this is the largest apartment building project, apartment building complex in the county, and by far, I think, the nicest,” Swank said. “Our staff does a great job keeping things clean and well-oiled and it’s doing really well. So to have our fourth building went up, which kind of finalizes the community here a bit, for our apartments, we’re thrilled.”

Government representatives including all three Lebanon County Commissioners and representatives of Dan Meuser’s and Chris Gebhard’s offices were present Wednesday.

Commissioner Robert Phillips explained that a housing study completed by the county found a 6,500 deficit of units of various types, and thanked developers for addressing the demand.

The apartment is one of four major projects now under development at North Cornwall Commons.

North Cornwall Commons, across from the Lebanon Valley Expo Center, has had projects in development going back to around 2018, with the first storefronts opening in 2019. Since then, the site has grown to include 160 townhomes, 334 apartments, a hotel, and restaurants.

“I gotta tell you, the first time we were here to talk about an apartment complex, people said, who’s going to rent those apartments?” said Dan Bost of Senator Gebhard’s office. “And now we’re on the fourth one, and according to the manager, they’re 100 percent occupied.” (Developers later clarified apartments are 100% leased, not occupied)

Now under development is the new apartment building, an extended stay hotel, 81 new townhomes, and a new condo building, Swank explained.

Developers also recently completed a Springwood Drive extension connecting to Norman Drive, with Swank explaining this will to allow new residents to easier access the medical facilities along Norman Drive and provide another access point.

Editor’s note: article was edited to clarify Mike Swank’s title and details of the site, as well as remove two photos.