McFarland Apartments Then and Now: A Look at the Harrisburg Wall Collapse

On May 5, 2016, the parking lot and retaining wall next to McFarland Apartments gave way to the property beneath them. The City of Harrisburg thereafter condemned the Apartment building adjacent to the collapse in fear that it, too, would suffer the fate of the retaining wall. The McFarland Apartments were then forced to close and sit vacant for seven years while its owner worked to fortify the building and reconstruct the parking lot adjacent to it. In that time, the McFarland wall has been the centerpiece of numerous cases involving the present owner of the property, McFarland, LP; its previous owners, Pennrose Properties; engineers Greenbaum Structures; Neshaminy Constructors; TRC Companies; and the owner of the business below the apartment, Howard Henry and his tire store.

Throughout the seven years of litigation surrounding the wall’s collapse, McFarland, LP has handled the difficult task of remediating the site, moving the tons of rubble, and building a structurally sound wall in the original’s place. This process has been costly. In its effort to seek remuneration, McFarland, LP enlisted the assistance of Smigel, Anderson, and Sacks, LLP, and lead attorney Michael R. Kelley, Esq., who have worked on McFarland’s behalf in court to investigate the cause of the collapse, obtain compensation from those involved in the faulty wall’s construction, and negotiate multiple settlements, six actions in all, for the losses the accident caused to Mr. Henry, his business, and McFarland, LP. Construction on the newly supported building and fortified wall was completed at the end of 2022. The Apartments’ new façade, no longer a dirt and rubble pile, will greet those visiting Harrisburg for years to come.