Hempfield supervisors approve development that includes 52 duplexes

Several duplexes are coming to Hempfield after supervisors this week granted final conditional approval for second phase development plans at Grandview Estates.

Supervisors unanimously approved the project, which would bring 52 duplex lots and one single-family home to the township near Swede Hill Road. Mark Nikoula, co-owner of Cherry Hills LP, the developer on the project, said the plan will be built by Dan Ryan Builders.

Homes built in this phase of construction would be located off Zoe Lane, which connects to Fosterville Road. Homes will be between 1,500- and 1,700-square-feet and will cost around $300,000, Nikoula said.

“The developer has indicated that these are higher-end duplexes,” Patrick Karnash, director of planning and zoning, said during a workshop meeting this month.

Cherry Hills is required to meet several conditions for the project like providing certification from the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County that sanitary sewers and public water have been installed and accepted, providing certification for several utilities and providing subsurface conditions per Hempfield code.

Approval of the second phase of the project has taken years. According to Karnash, second phase plans were first approved in 2016 and were originally put in front of the township as all single-family homes. Since then, however, the developer has altered those plans, something Nikoula attributed to the covid-19 pandemic.

“If we were to think back to a few years ago this plan was put in front of the township as all single-family homes,” he said. “They’ve changed that to being all duplexes with the exception of one lot.”

The plans were recently in front of the township’s planning commission, which unanimously recommended the project.

There is also the potential for future projects in the housing plan, officials previously said, with more than 65 acres in the area of Swede Hill and Willow Crossing roads reserved for future phases.