MidAtlantic City Scoop: Construction Starts in Harrisburg

City Scoop Harrisburg — Total Construction Spending Expected To Remain Steady, With 1.1% Bump Next Year

Projects such as the $50-million Dollar General Warehouse and Distribution Facility, in Bethel, Pa., point to the health of central Pennsylvania’s warehouseand- distribution market.

*PHOTO BY HAYMAN STUDIO, COURTESY KINSLEY CONSTRUCTION INC.*

Kinsley is transforming a grand, iconic 1925 building—the Yorktowne Hotel in York, Pa.—for the York County Industrial Development Authority.

*RENDERING COURTESY OF ABSKETCHES*

City Grill

Jonathan R. Kinsley
President and CEO
Kinsley Construction Inc.

Central Pennsylvania continues to lag behind other urban areas in most construction markets, says Jonathan R. Kinsley, who notes one strong exception: the warehouse-and-distribution market. “Development activity in this market is very strong, particularly along the Interstate 81 corridor,” he says. “The strength of this market is credited to the region’s well-developed infrastructure and proximity to some of the most densely populated parts of the country.”

Kinsley’s firm has six distribution projects in various stages of construction, for a combined total of more than 3.5 million sq ft. Kinsley recently completed the $50-million Dollar General Warehouse and Distribution Facility, sited in Bethel, Pa.

Further, Kinsley says, “Our business development efforts have identified at least 20 new projects with construction starts over the next three years.”

This current and projected activity supports several economists’ predictions that this market will remain strong for at least the next two to three years, Kinsley observes.

“Based on the requests we’re getting for budgeting and estimating support, I would predict the distribution market to remain strong well past that timeline.”

Firm in Focus

Kinsley Construction Inc.
2700 Water Street, York, Pa.
President and CEO: Jonathan R. Kinsley
Founded: 1963
Shrewd Building: Kinsley is transforming a grand, iconic 1925 building—the Yorktowne Hotel in York, Pa.—for the York County Industrial Development Authority. The renovation includes a ballroom, meeting spaces and retail space. Known for its adaptive reuse and renovation of historic buildings, Kinsley has worked on more than 25 such projects in the region, with a variety of end uses: residential mixed use, offices, education, hospitality and museums. The firm recently renovated The Gettysburg Hotel and the former Mount Vernon Hotel—now Hotel Indigo—in Baltimore. The firm has regional offices that serve Maryland, Metro D.C., eastern Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The firm provides preconstruction, construction- management, general contracting and design-build services.