The latest news & press from Hankin Group.

Philadelphia Inquirer Top Workplaces recognized eleven Chester County companies as the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley top workplaces in the Small Companies category.

The list is based on a 24-question survey administered by Energage and completed by the company’s employees. It measures 15 cultural drivers that are crucial to the success of any organization. These include alignment, execution, and performance, among others.

This year, the Philadelphia Inquirer recognized 178 companies and organizations in Philadelphia/Delaware Valley as top workplaces in three categories: Small Companies (50-149 employees), Medium Companies (150-499), and Large Companies (500+).

Among Chester County companies, AscellaHealth in Berwyn, with 61 employees, ranked highest among small companies at No. 19. West Chester-based Tom Toole Sales Group also broke into the top 30 at No. 26. The company has 50 employees.

Here are all the Chester County companies that made the Philadelphia/Delaware Valley Top Workplaces 2022 in the Small Companies category (50 to 149 employees):

• 19. AscellaHealth – Berwyn
• 26. Tom Toole Sales Group – West Chester
• 31. Nexxt, Inc. – Wayne
• 38. Rajant Corporation – Malvern
• 40. Avanceon LP – Exton
• 44. Hankin Group – Exton 
• 46. STP Investment Services – West Chester
• 49. SkillSurvey – Malvern
• 64. IMX MEDICAL MANAGEMENT SERVICES a QTC Company – Malvern
• 66. Affiliated Distributors (AD) – Wayne
• 82. IMC Construction – Malvern

LNP | Lancaster Online article

Thirteen years after the Lancaster YMCA closed its longtime city home at Queen and Frederick streets the final redevelopment plan to remake the area got underway Tuesday with a groundbreaking ceremony for Queen Street Flats.

The new, $100 million project calls for the construction of a four-story apartment building, a five-story apartment building, a three-story medical building, first-floor retail space, and a 440-space parking garage tucked between the medical building and a PPL electricity system substation on an adjacent lot.

The medical office building is slated to open in 18 months with the entire project expected to take two years to build.

The urban mixed-use development is the culmination of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health’s longstanding ambition to remake the property adjacent to its Lancaster General Hospital complex and across Prince Street from Clipper Magazine Stadium’s front parking lot.

Lancaster General Health has tried twice before to redevelop the site, only to run into financing snags. This time Lancaster General Health secured the necessary approvals for the project but will be selling the property to Exton-based Hankin Group to actually develop it.

“This is truly an example of the power of partnership, collaboration and determination,” Lancaster General Health CEO John J. Herman said at the Tuesday morning groundbreaking ceremony held under a white tent on the property.

“In addition to enhancing access to health-care services, Queen Street Flats will positively contribute to Lancaster’s capacity to provide quality residential options, conveniently located among the county’s urban core,” Herman said, while adding that having more housing near the hospital could help with employee recruitment.

Queen Street Flats to dress up the north side of Lancaster city
Personnel from Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, who in partnership with Lancaster city, the High Construction Group and the Hankin Group, turned out for a ceremony to break ground and introduce their plans for Queen Street Flats.

QSF will house two new apartment buildings with 244 units, a parking garage with 440 spaces, along with a 3-story 30,000 square foot medical building, all to be located on the former site of the YMCA along the 500 block of N. Queen and W. Frederick Streets.

Construction will get underway immediately for this $100 million project. The medical building will be finished be in 18 months and completion of the entire project will be in two years.

The biggest aspect of the Queen Streets Flats project are the two quadrangle apartment buildings that will have 244 combined residential units including efficiency apartments, and one-, two, and three-bedroom units that will be rented at market rates. The four-story building bounded by North Prince and West Frederick streets will have a pool in its courtyard.

Next to the apartment buildings will be a 30,000-square-foot medical office building that will be used by Lancaster General Health to house an urgent care center and two primary physician groups. The parking garage will be tucked between the medical building and a PPL substation on an adjacent lot.

“We’re really excited to get started on this after everyone’s extensive planning,” said Bob Hankin, president and CEO of Hankin Group, an Exton, Chester County-based developer that is partnering with Lancaster General Health to develop Queen Street Flats.

Later this month, Hankin Group is slated to buy the property for an undisclosed price from Lancaster General Health, develop the property, and then lease the medical office building back to Lancaster General Health, according to John Lines, a Lancaster General Health spokesperson. High Construction is the general contractor for the project.

Historic buildings part of project

Work is beginning imminently with the relocation of some utilities and then the demolition of some remaining buildings on the site later this month.

A building that won’t be demolished is the circa-1868 building and carriage house at the corner of North Prince and Frederick streets. The original plans for the project called for those buildings to be torn down, but they were incorporated into the final plan at the insistence of city officials.

The former tavern at 48 W. Frederick St. was last occupied by Bob’s Café in 2003. Along with the circa-1917 carriage house behind it, it will remain intact and will have first-floor retail space and a residence on the second floor.

Douglas Smith, chief planner for Lancaster city, lauded the developers for finding a way to incorporate the historic buildings into the project.

“I think they went above and beyond on this and really showed that it’s possible to preserve our history and create a high-quality development,” Smith said at the Tuesday morning groundbreaking ceremony.

The Lancaster YMCA had occupied the Queen Street building beginning in 1967 and then expanded into the adjacent property along Prince Street in the mid-1980s. The two YMCA buildings have been vacant since September 2009, when the YMCA moved to a new building on Harrisburg Avenue.

While plans were being developed for the parcel, Lancaster General Health razed some deteriorating structures in 2018 and replaced them with green space and a walkway.

Lancaster General Hospital, a Lancaster General Health forerunner, originally purchased the 1.8-acre YMCA property for $4.9 million in 2005, the first of multiple tracts it bought since then in the 3.5-acre parcel bounded by North Queen, North Prince and West Frederick streets.

A previous plan to develop the property just across North Queen Street from a Lancaster General Health parking garage called for construction of a five-story, 175,000-square-foot administrative office building. To facilitate that project, the hospital got the area rezoned in 2012 from residential to “hospital campus,” a zoning designation that had to be changed for Queen Street Flats.

Hankin Group recently began a renovation project at Ryerss Farm, a popular weekend attraction and the oldest nonprofit of its kind in the nation.

In partnership with Stierly Excavating and the Chester County Conservation District, Ryerss Farm’s land erosion, which has created culverts that are hazardous to the 60 horses onsite, will be repaired over the course of the next few weeks.

Since 1888, this volunteer-staffed organization has cared for older horses as they live out their golden years in the company of herd mates, who may have seen everything from stellar show careers to abandonment or abuse.

At Ryerss Farm, they all come together as equals who are never asked to do another moment’s work. Instead, the team does it for them.

“I took riding lessons as a child, but I never learned how to really care for the horses themselves,” said Adrienne Doran, Ryerss Farm volunteer. “Over the past six years volunteering at Ryerss, I have learned about their different personalities, needs, quirks, medications, and their favorite itchy spots. If you listen, they will speak to you. They will touch your soul.”

It became evident over time that repairs to the land erosion would be a large, costly project that would be a huge undertaking for a nonprofit organization of this kind but would be necessary to maintain the farm and allow the horses a fulfilling life.

“I made a list of developers active in the area and decided to start with Hankin Group since their headquarters is 11 miles from Ryerss Farm,” said Doran. “As local developers, they have the expertise and community ties.”

In just a few days, Hankin responded with immediate interest to provide aid.

A few weeks later, Hankin Group — led by Neal Fisher, Vice President of Development, and Nicholas Hartman, Project Engineer — connected with Josh Stierly, Stierly Excavating; Sam Griffin, President, Ryerss Board of Managers; Tim Blevins, Farm Manager; Amber Slaymaker, Animal Welfare Manager; and Joelle Temoyan, Administrative Manager, to discuss the scope of the project. To address water runoff and soil conservation, Hankin Group also met with the Chester County Conservation District, which offered a generous grant for the scope of work.

“I can’t thank Bob Hankin enough for turning a dream into reality,” said Doran. “I’ll take credit for making the phone call, but I believe the horses spoke to Bob, and they touched his soul.”

Bob Hankin, CEO of Hankin Group, and COO Michael Hankin lead the initiatives of the Hankin Foundation, the philanthropic arm for Hankin Group. Since the company’s inception more than 60 years ago, the Foundation has helped 100-plus local organizations.

Learn more about Hankin Group.

Read the full article on VISTA Today here.