Lancaster native turns side hustle into successful real estate development business

Lancaster city developer Benjamin Lesher began working on his first development as a side hustle while working at a Mechanicsburg-based real estate development firm.

The project, Lesher’s 104-unit Stadium Row apartment building, become the city’s first all-new residential development in over 50 years when it opened in August 2021.

Today Lesher is president and founder of his own development firm, SDL Devco, and is using the experience from Stadium Row as a catalyst for new projects in the city.

Lesher, 35, found his interest in real estate and development after his family sold its Mechanicsburg farm to Lancaster developer Charter Homes and Neighborhoods, which used the acreage to build Arcona, a neighborhood of single-family homes, townhomes and carriage homes.

At the same time his family was selling the farm, Lesher was pursuing an Economics degree at Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts. Following graduation, he joined Lancaster developer Drogaris companies as project support.

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