$48M housing plan at Stockyard Inn site draws flak from neighbor

The owner of a small business park next to the Stockyard Inn roundly criticized on Monday a $48 million apartment development being proposed for the restaurant site.

Robert Redcay, who bought the Stockyards Business Park in 2016, told the city Zoning Hearing Board that the pair of five-story buildings would “block the view of my buildings from Lititz Pike.”

In addition, Redcay voiced concern that tenants of the community’s 216 apartments would come and go by taking shortcuts through his business park, burdening his park’s private roads “that aren’t built” for that level of traffic.

The real estate developer and investor also maintained that the apartment buildings would be incompatible with buildings nearby, saying the new structures would “completely change” the character of the area.

Redcay elaborated on that third point at a meeting of the city Historical Commission, which gathered immediately after the zoners’ session in City Council chambers.

“I think there would be a lot more support for this project” if the apartment buildings resembled tobacco warehouses that have been converted into housing throughout the city, he said. But that idea got a chilly reception from the commission.

The Stockyard Inn at Lititz Pike and Marshall Avenue occupies a 4.6-acre parcel at the northern edge of Lancaster city. The site is zoned for mixed use.