After years of planning and demolition, the first buildings that will be part of Swatara Exchange are under construction where the Harrisburg Mall once stood.
Owner St. John Properties has started work on three buildings on the Swatara Township site:
- A 10,725-square-foot building with a drive-thru is going up at 3411 Paxton St., adjacent to Applebee’s Grill + Bar.
- An 18,000-square-foot building is under construction at 53 Enterprise Drive, near Bass Pro Shops, which remained standing and open as the rest of the mall was torn down. Bookstore 2nd & Charles will relocate to that building. Its temporary location is the former Toys R Us building at 460 Mall Road. It used to be inside the mall.
- A 9,465-square-foot retail building with a drive-thru is being built adjacent to the future home of 2nd & Charles.
The three buildings are expected to be completed next spring. With the exception of 2nd & Charles, St. John Properties has not announced who will occupy the new buildings.
Phase I of construction will also include two single-story multi-use buildings with more than 100,000 total square feet of space at 55 and 57 Enterprise Drive; a 6,000-square-foot convenience store; and a 3,198-square-foot restaurant with a drive-thru.
Once completed, Swatara Exchange will have 15 buildings — a dozen of them new — with more than a half-million square feet of commercial space…