‘Smart city’ atop South Mountain will have it all

(Cascade, Md.) — Architects, engineers and contractors are teaming up for a massive redevelopment of the former Fort Ritchie.

They say developing Cascade Town Centre is like creating Tysons Corner, Reston or Pentagon City — all renowned planned communities in northern Virginia.

The project echoes the magic of Disney’s Epcot Center, but its optimism and vision are anchored in a growing number of business agreements.

Twenty representatives from 12 different companies in Pennsylvania and Maryland recently attended business meetings in South Korea.

Germantown, Md.-based JG Business Link International plans three hotels, a hospital, a university campus, a food research center, a resort, a business incubator, a winery, an indoor farm, a military museum and several housing complexes on top of South Mountain.  

Total investment is expected to exceed $1.5 billion. In terms of development more typical to Franklin County, such a bankroll could build 20 mega-warehouses.

JGBLI has completed projects in the Baltimore-Washington metro area but is relying on local professionals for much of this project. The locals are excited and confident.

JGBLI is big on teamwork, according to local professionals who will play a big role in the redevelopment.

“It’s something they emphasize,” said Gregg Thompson, director of marketing for Brechbill & Helman Construction Co., Chambersburg. “They take it to a further degree. They have a personal approach to it. When it’s your turn to be up, you’d better be ready.”

“I think we were selected because we’re known for that,” said Vaughn Silar, president and CEO of Paragon Engineering Services, York. “The project is way too big for any one firm.”

Thompson and Silar were among the local representatives to spend a week in South Korea in early March. The cultural immersion was just as important as the business understanding, according to Thompson.

 “It was as big a deal for them for us to go there, as it was for us,” he said.

Local firms are working with major players from South Korea. The potential projects have their own languages – functional foods, bio-wines, smart farms, medical tourism and smart city.

JGBLI’s proposals have been cooking since 2015. Washington County (Md.) Commissioners in June 2017 gave 63 acres to JGBLI and the option to develop the entire 591 acres of the former base. JGBLI previously helped with the development of the Johns Hopkins Belward Farm in Montgomery County, Md., and the University of Maryland BioPark in Baltimore.

The date for starting construction has been bumped back a couple of times. The most recent estimate is for sometime in 2019.

Dead for almost two decades

Fort Ritchie has been a ghost garrison for nearly 20 years.

Previous redevelopment efforts for the former Army communications base have faltered since it fell victim to the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission. Before it closed in 1998, Fort Ritchie had been the largest employer in Washington County with 2,500 workers – more than 1,000 of them from neighboring Franklin County, Pa.

The Recession, environmental questions and a court case killed the most promising attempt in 2012. Corporate Office Properties Trust of Columbia, Md., gave up after six years on a $225 million plan. COPT had planned to build a secure campus for Defense contractors and 600 homes.

The Washington County government took over the real estate in September 2016 and sought JGBLI.

JGBLI is lining up partners in the region — from excavators to hotel and hospital operators. Health care, hospitality, food, wine, smart farm and museum teams have formed.

“The challenge will be master-planning the overall project so that it all functions as planned,” said Matt Runyon, a principal with Newcomer Architects in Chambersburg. “The infrastructure will need upgraded so they will be able to eventually have a modern ‘smart city’ that they want.”

A smart city uses different types of electronic sensors to supply data which is used to manage the assets and resources of the urban area.

The local visitors were impressed with the use of “smart” technology being used in South Korea.

“We were shown a smart city that was being developed,” said Niki Hinckle, Summit Health senior vice president of physician services.  “This had endless possibilities and really illustrated the advancements they are making.”

The plan for the initial 63 acres calls for a four-story hotel and a four-story office building along with four multi-story buildings of shops, restaurants and condos. A variety of housing is to be built. Boardwalks will line the two lakes.

This story comes to us through a partnership between WITF and The Chambersburg Public Opinion.