Cranberry tracks nearly $200 million in building development through 2025 permits
Cranberry Township saw another steady year of construction as developers advanced residential and commercial projects that continue to reshape the community.
The township recorded nearly $200 million worth of building construction costs stemming from 602 building permits in 2025, according to December’s planning and development services report.
While projects ranged widely in size and scope, township officials said the cumulative investment underscores Cranberry’s sustained growth and economic activity.
“We’re pretty steady year to year,” said Ron Henshaw, Cranberry’s director of planning and development services. “While there are ups and downs, we’re very resilient, and I think that’s a testament to our community and the desire for people and businesses to be in our community.”
Henshaw said while the year-end construction total can serve as a snapshot of development activity, the multimillion dollar figure does not include the cost of sitework, such as building roads and other related infrastructure.
Estimated construction costs are provided by applicants when they apply for building permits and represent the projected value of the work to be completed, he said.
Despite some of the physical work slowing down during the winter months, the 44 building permits issued in December accounted for more than $16.4 million in estimated construction value.
Those figures offer a widely used benchmark for measuring private investment, development intensity and overall building trends.
The totals also help calculate how much a building permit will cost developers.
“That’s how you establish how much a building permit is. It’s based upon the construction value,” Henshaw said. “Then you take our formula that’s in our fee resolution and that’s how you come up with the actual permit fee.”
The building permits include everything from single-family homes to townhouses to apartment buildings and mobile homes, along with nonresidential buildings and nonresidential additions.
Residential additions and alterations totaled the most with 242 permits, followed by single-family attached permits at 172 and nonresidential additions with 87.
“We grow at about 1.6 to 1.7% annually,” Henshaw said. “That’s on the residential side as well as the nonresidential side. That is — what we say — a nice, doable rate of growth.”
Several projects remained active or in transition as the year came to a close.
Developers for Meeder, a housing development with walking trails and gathering places, are working on changes across two phases of their plan, according to Henshaw.
“All we know is that they’re working on changes, and we’re probably going to hear something about that maybe in January or February about what they’re proposing,” he said.
Park Meadows, a residential development on Goehring Road, has been under construction for the last two-plus years. With a trail connection providing direct access to North Boundary Park, it’s been a “highly desirable” destination for families.
“Houses are going very well in there,” Henshaw said. “It’s all single-family housing. It’s a little bit of a smaller development.”
Meanwhile, construction of Breckenridge, a townhouse development on Freedom Road that sits adjacent to the Georgetown Square development, remains ongoing and will soon enter the final phase.
“They (the developers) are going fairly quickly,” Henshaw said. “They’ve just told us they want to start the final phase — phase three. It’s already approved, so they just need to get it recorded and they’ll keep rolling right into it.”
Another development on Glen Eden Road called Brookvue is “much more in its infancy,” Henshaw said.
“There’s no occupancy there yet,” he said. “Units are popping up out of the ground and proceeding. We’ll probably see occupancy take place this spring.”
Finally, Reserve at Cranberry Springs, a multifamily residential development bounded by Interstate 79, Cranberry Springs Drive and the future location of a Wegmans grocery store, just saw its first residents move in over the last couple of weeks.
“Building after building is how they’ll do it until they build it out,” Henshaw said. “That’s a big one, and it’s kind of exciting being in the Cranberry Springs area there and being well connected to so many good things. I think people are going to enjoy living there.”
