Chambersburg Council Approves Southgate Sale, 178 Apartments Planned

Chambersburg Borough Council endorsed an agreement to sell the remaining 69% of the Southgate Shopping Center to York-based Inch & Co., advancing a plan to redevelop the site into a mixed-use neighborhood. The company proposes investing nearly $40 million to build six three-story, market-rate apartment buildings with 178 units, while retaining existing retail businesses and honoring their leases. The project is expected to proceed in phases beginning in early 2027, including demolishing the former Big Lots building, with residential construction targeted for completion by the end of 2028. The sale is expected to bring the municipal authority about $1.45 million, and officials say the original shopping-center purchase and operations used no local tax money; the completed development is projected to generate additional annual tax and utility revenue for the borough.