LANCASTER, PA | The Mosaic @ W Vine and S Queen | 244 FT | 20 FLOORS

[SouthCentralPA]

https://lancasteronline.com/news/loc...bbcf448ee.html

Mosaic
The downtown high-rise from Willow Street-based Willow Valley Communities geared toward older adults won approval for its preliminary development plan in November.

That means Willow Valley can move on to the last step with city planners — a final land development plan for the 20-story building.

The proposed 147-unit building is for people 55 and older on a site previously owned by LNP Media Group. The project would raze LNP’s former production building and save the historic Jasper Yeates home that is also on the site.

Willow Valley CEO John Swanson told LNP | LancasterOnline in January he expects the company will submit a final plan in the next couple of months and will look to sell a large share of units before beginning construction.

But if that goes according to plan, Willow Valley could start building by the end of the year, Swanson said.

[mville1]

I am hearing this project's future is on shaky ground. My source at Willow Valley informed me of how many units have been sold so far, and that number is nowhere near the 70 percent needed to start construction. I've heard from another source within the local construction industry that Acts Retirement Services, who took over as the sole corporate sponsor and manager of Willow Valley Communities in 2021, were not totally onboard with the project from the start and they are not happy with the less than robust sales numbers. I would not be surprised if this project either gets scaled down significantly or cancelled altogether.

For some background about the genesis of Mosaic, John Swanson former longtime CEO of Willow Valley, and his team conceptualized and announced the project prior to the strategic alliance with Acts in 2021. Swanson was replaced as CEO shortly thereafter and moved into a new role as the "Director of Future Development" of Willow Valley Communities.

[SouthCentralPA]

Originally Posted by mville1

I am hearing this project's future is on shaky ground. My source at Willow Valley informed me of how many units have been sold so far, and that number is nowhere near the 70 percent needed to start construction. I've heard from another source within the local construction industry that Acts Retirement Services, who took over as the sole corporate sponsor and manager of Willow Valley Communities in 2021, were not totally onboard with the project from the start and they are not happy with the less than robust sales numbers. I would not be surprised if this project either gets scaled down significantly or cancelled altogether.

For some background about the genesis of Mosaic, John Swanson former longtime CEO of Willow Valley, and his team conceptualized and announced the project prior to the strategic alliance with Acts in 2021. Swanson was replaced as CEO shortly thereafter and moved into a new role as the "Director of Future Development" of Willow Valley Communities.

Well that is disappointing to hear, but thank you for the update. Anything more recent to report on this one?

[mville1]

Glad to have you back! By the way, I have missed your Harrisburg updates. As to your question, I have not heard anything recently from my source or come across anything in the local media about this project. Since last May, most of my time has been spent in Bethlehem so I am not in tune with what is going in Lancaster as much. I used to religiously read all of the Lancaster city committee meeting minutes to check on various building proposals and projects but I have been short on free time and I have not read any meeting minutes since last winter. If I get a chance this weekend, I will see if Willow Valley has recently submitted any request related to Mosaic to either the city planning commission or city council.

[SouthCentralPA]

Originally Posted by mville1

Glad to have you back! By the way, I have missed your Harrisburg updates. As to your question, I have not heard anything recently from my source or come across anything in the local media about this project. Since last May, most of my time has been spent in Bethlehem so I am not in tune with what is going in Lancaster as much. I used to religiously read all of the Lancaster city committee meeting minutes to check on various building proposals and projects but I have been short on free time and I have not read any meeting minutes since last winter. If I get a chance this weekend, I will see if Willow Valley has recently submitted any request related to Mosaic to either the city planning commission or city council.

I understand the lack of free time - that's part of the reason I was off this site for 6+ months. But I appreciate your updates and insight on these projects!

I will try and do a Harrisburg update sometime soon. I still get into Harrisburg frequently, just haven't taken any photos or posted any updates recently. A lot of the big projects have wrapped up like the Harrisburg University Tower, State Archives building and Federal Courthouse. But there are some smaller projects underway like the Catherine Hershey school, the old Salvation Army building conversion and the project near the Jackson House on 6th St. So I'll try and get some photos/updates!

[mville1]

Originally Posted by SouthCentralPA

I understand the lack of free time - that's part of the reason I was off this site for 6+ months. But I appreciate your updates and insight on these projects!

I will try and do a Harrisburg update sometime soon. I still get into Harrisburg frequently, just haven't taken any photos or posted any updates recently. A lot of the big projects have wrapped up like the Harrisburg University Tower, State Archives building and Federal Courthouse. But there are some smaller projects underway like the Catherine Hershey school, the old Salvation Army building conversion and the project near the Jackson House on 6th St. So I'll try and get some photos/updates!

Quick update. I was in town over the holiday and drove by the site. The parking lot along Vine Street (in front of the old LNP Building) has been fenced off, a dumpster is on site, and a few contractors looked to be milling about. From what I observed, it looks like the first phase of demolition has started. If my memory is correct, Willow Valley's revised timeline (at least the latest one that was publicly released) was for this building to be completed in the second or third quarter of 2026. To meet that deadline, demolition would need to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2024 with excavation work commencing shortly thereafter.

Although messing around on the Mosaic website, I found a diagram of the building which only shows 57 out of the 147 units in the building. Of the 57 visible, it looks like only 8 are under contract. If we extrapolate that the 14% under contract rate is consistent for the whole building, that would mean roughly 21 units are under contract. Now, of course a higher percentage of the north, west or east facing apartments could be under contract, but typically the south/west facing units with more sun exposure, sunset views, and better natural light sell better. Regardless, on the surface it looks like Willow Valley is still well short of its 70% pre-construction sales target. If this project indeed begins excavation and breaks ground by the end of spring 2024, I would be surprised given the pace of sales so far.

https://mosaiclancaster.com/residences/

[mville1]

Willow Valley hopeful it can begin work on Mosaic high-rise in 2024
By: Chris Reber

Willow Valley Communities hopes to begin work on Mosaic, its proposed luxury high-rise in downtown Lancaster city, before the end of the year. But with only 12% of units in the building reserved, it has pushed back the opening of the 20-story retirement community from fall 2026 until an undisclosed date in 2027.

The extra time will allow it to sell more reservations for units in the proposed 55-plus community at 17 W. Vine St. before construction begins, according to Brian Rutter, chief marketing officer at Willow Valley Living, a subsidiary of Willow Valley Communities.

As of Monday, 18 of 146 units inside what will be Lancaster County’s tallest building have been reserved, and one more reservation is pending. Willow Valley’s stated goal has been to get reservations for 102 units – 70 percent of the building – before construction begins.

https://lancasteronline.com/news/loc...8cba71401.html

The longer this gets delayed, I wonder how many of the reserved units will become available again. The continual pushbacks cannot inspire too much confidence among the people who already bought into the building.