77 townhouses headed to Penn Township in final phases of Blackthorne Estates

More housing is headed to Penn Township.

Township commissioners have approved Blackthorne Estates’ phases VI-B and VII, which will add 77 townhouses to the luxury golf course community more than 25 years in the making.

The townhouses, to be built by Ryan Homes, will feature three bedrooms, 2½ bathrooms, two-car garages and open layouts, according to the homebuilder’s website.

Home prices will start in the upper $200,000s. The manor-style townhouses will be built off of Blackthorne Drive.

Bill Roberts, the township’s community development director, said he believes the area will benefit from the addition.

“There seems to be a demand for townhouses, quite honestly,” Roberts said. “Young couples like the mobility of not being tied to house ownership.”

The Blackthorne Estates plan was initially approved in 1993. Economic factors have stalled the housing plan, which has been under construction since 1995.

The housing development features single-family homes, carriage homes, patio homes and townhouses.

Additionally, there is an Arnold Palmer Design Company golf course and golf clubhouse on the 315-acre property. The golf course remains a nine-hole feature. Township officials approved a rescheduling plan in 2014 that delayed completion of an 18-hole golf course until before the final phase of development begins, the Tribune-Review previously reported. The original plan called for the course to be finished along with the clubhouse in the third phase.

The tee box for the 18th hole stands next to the Phase VII townhome site, with the green a few hundred yards away near the clubhouse, according to the latest master plan revised in 2019. That plan shows the reconfiguration of many existing holes along with newly developed ones to complete the course.

The timeline for construction of the townhouses is unclear. A representative from Ryan Homes could not be reached for comment.

Roberts said phases VI-B and VII are the last phases planned for Blackthorne Estates.

“We’re at the point now that we’re seeing light at the end of the tunnel,” Roberts said.