Burkentine Builders is gearing up to finish a mixed-use project that will bring another brewery to southern York County.
- The Hanover-based builder held a topping-off ceremony April 25 for the roughly $5 million project, which is bringing two buildings totaling 10,000 square feet of commercial space and 20 apartments to the borough of New Freedom.
- Construction is expected to wrap up this fall, but one commercial tenant is already lined up. Vortex Brewing, a startup brewery, will occupy the first floor of one of the buildings.
- The 5,000 square-foot space will be the first for Vortex, said brewery co-owner Richard Foard.
- “We looked at a lot of locations,” he said. “We just fell in love with New Freedom.”
Where is this happening: The buildings are going up on the site of a former American Insulator factory at 1 E. Franklin St. in New Freedom, near the Heritage Rail Trail County Park.
- Burkentine already built 62 townhomes and 72 apartments for the overall development, dubbed Franklin Square.
- “Our goal is to create meaningful spaces for people to live and this is the definition of that,” Burkentine co-owner Mike Burkentine said, noting that members of the Burkentine family had worked at the American Insulator plant.
- York-based Warehaus is the architect on the project (shown in a rendering).
What’s brewing: Vortex is the third brewery in recent months to locate or expand in southern York County.
- Maryland-based AleCraft Brewery has been renovating a 13,000-square-foot building at 15 S. Main St. in Railroad, also near the rail trail.
- Fawn Grove-based South County Brewing, meanwhile, recently opened a new brewery and restaurant off Leader Heights Road in York Township.
The trend: New rental apartments have seen heavy demand in Central Pennsylvania and around the U.S.
- That is expected to continue as rising interest rates make it even more expensive to buy a home.
