Lancaster Mixed-Use Project Wrapping Up Phase One

Liberty North, a high-end, mixed-use project at 1060 North Charlotte Street in Lancaster is almost ready to have its first tenants move in.  The second-floor renovations are complete and 20 of 21 loft apartments are rented!  First-floor work starts this fall and will add more apartments and commercial space.

Apartments rent for $900 – $1800 a month and there are no shortage of takers; if the success rate on the second-floor is any indicator for the rest of the project.

Here is as link to the site for the project with all the information you could want and pictures: http://drogariscompanies.com/libertynorth

Lancaster City To Build Another Parking Garage

An important part of attracting people into downtown areas is the availability of convenient and reasonable parking.  Lancaster realizes that.  As more businesses open and residents move into adaptive reuse projects, activity increases downtown.  A key element in revitalization of a central business district is parking.  People flock to malls and strip malls because of free and plentiful parking.  As downtown business districts vie for shoppers, parking will make or break them.

Yesterday’s Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era had an article in the business section announcing the city’s plan to build another parking garage downtown.  The Redevelopment Authority voted Wednesday to buy land in the 400 block of North Market St.  The Lancaster Press building will be turned into 44 condominiums (55+).  The Brickyard restaurant needs spaces for customers along with Belvedere, Alley Kat and other nearby restaurants and shops in the 300 block of North Queen St.  The public parking will be an added benefit of the Lancaster Press building renovation.

The size and cost of the project will depend on funding.  The ballpark at this time is 225 to 370 spaces, costing between $9 and $11 million.  Money promised to the city by Governor Ed Rendell has been put on hold by Governor Tom Corbett.  Those grants are under review by Governor Corbett’s office.  The majority of the cost will be covered under a city bond issue.  If all goes well construction could begin next March or April and be concluded by the end of 2012.

The Lancaster Parking Authority will operate the garage for the Redevelopment Authority.

Mayor Chris Doherty told me one of the first things he did was build parking garages in downtown Scranton.  There was not adequate parking in Scranton’s downtown to support revitalization.  After Mayor Doherty added sufficient parking he was able to take downtown Scranton to new heights. 

Lancaster already has a number of parking garages downtown but with increased development more parking is needed.  The conversion of the Lancaster Press building is contingent upon adding parking for the residents who will live there.  More downtown residents mean more patrons for businesses.  Lancaster has a very walkable downtown which is highly desirable for the market segment that is interesting in living in a project like the Lancaster Press building.

On a personal note, I always use the parking garages when I visit downtown Lancaster.  They are clean, safe, reasonable and convenient!  Two thumbs up to Lancaster for more good decisions on the revitalization of their downtown and city.

Lancaster’s Keystone Opportunity Zone: IT Firm Set To Expand Second Time In Four Years

Business is booming for a Lancaster IT firm in the city’s KOZ.  One2One is going to build a larger facility to enhance future growth.  Their current 7,000 square feet building is too small.  The firm is designing a new building, up to 10,000 square feet.  They have purchased the lot next to their existing building for $150,000 and hope to break ground on the new structure this fall, with occupancy in 2012.  One2One will spend $1 – $1.5 million to build their new facility.

The new facility will allow One2One to have a larger network operations center and more amenities for their employees.  One2One is a computer services and technology consulting company.  They offer computer repair, offsite data backup, website design, web hosting, business and consulting IT services in addition to their network operations center.

One2One was originally drawn to their current location because of the benefits of being in a KOZ.  Their decision to expand next door was based on a recent extension of the KOZ tax breaks until 2020.

Lancaster City Adaptive Reuse Project Will Turn Former Factory Building Into Apartments

A factory building on North Mulberry Street in Lancaster will hopefully be turned into 27 apartments.  The building, most recently the home of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Lancaster, was purchased by a holding company owned by Sam Beiler (the former owner of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels) in January for $275,000.

Plans for a total renovation of the structure include a roof-top garden and patio. This is dependent on a structural analysis to determine if the roof could support the added weight.

The project has been approved by City Council and the Lancaster Historical Commission.

Ironing out parking, performing a structural analysis and a cost-benefit analysis are the next steps.  The building has been significantly damaged by a leaking roof.  The structural analysis results will determine if the project can move forward.

The studio and one-bedroom apartments (600 – 800 square feet) will be marketed towards young professionals looking to live near downtown Lancaster, Lancaster General Hospital or Franklin & Marshall College.

Lancaster City Hires New Arts Manager – The Goal: Make Lancaster “A Significant Arts Destination”

Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray has made the arts part of Lancaster City’s newly revised strategic plan.  Lancaster is to become a significant arts destination.  Evidence of the arts momentum in Lancaster is the hugely successful First Friday’s and the increasing amount of public art appearing throughout the city.  The goal is for much more. 

Making Lancaster more aesthetically pleasing will enhance the quality of life for city residents and give tourists another reason to come to Lancaster County; other than riding around in tour buses staring at the Amish, eating at Shady Maple and shopping at the Rockvale Outlets.  A trip to Lancaster County is not complete until one thoroughly immerses one’s self in the historic City of Lancaster (i am a former city resident who walked to Central Market to grocery shop every week).

So how does one go about turning this vision into a goal and then into a reality?  First, one gets a $200,000 grant from the Lancaster County Community Foundation that will pay the Arts Manager’s salary for three years.  Secondly, find a great candidate like John Lustig and hire him away from Indiana State University where he was the Curator and Director of the university’s permanent collection (valued at $45 million with 7,000 pieces of art).  Finally, support him and allow him to do his job (which by all accounts will happen).

John is a doer.  On his first day, John wrote up a letter of intent for a grant from National Endowment of the Arts.  The deadline was midnight and John worked until 9:30 p.m. to make sure Lancaster would be in the running for this funding.  Impressive first day!

Lustig will be jumping on an arts bandwagon that is already going strong in Lancaster.  His role will be to kick things up a notch and bring more community attention to the arts scene.  John will also be learning what other cities are doing to fund their arts programs and report back his findings.  This information will help city officials find creative ways to fund public art projects without reinventing the wheel or breaking the bank.

John is excited about finding an iconic piece of art that will come to be identified with Lancaster (like the LOVE statue is to Philly, the “arch” to St. Louis or the Statue of Liberty with NYC.)  Public art is a very broad term that can be applied to more than sculpture and murals.  Lustig also considers things like architecture, design, commercial signs and audio clips played in a public space as art.  Creativity exists in all things man-made.  Maybe he has a twin brother who would like a job in Pottstown!?!

Just another reason to heart Lancaster!

Metropolitan Harrisburg Ranks In Top 20 Percent For Gross Domestic Product Growth

Image via Wikipedia

Statistics were released for gross domestic product growth in U.S. metropolitan areas for 2009.  Harrisburg ranked 74^th showing a 2.7 percent growth rate in 2009.  Metropolitan Harrisburg’s GDP for 2009 was $28 billion dollars.  Prior to the recession Harrisburg’s GDP grew by 9 percent in 2006.

Lancaster was the next metro area in South Central Pennsylvania on the list at number 104.  Metropolitan Lancaster showed a slight decrease for 2009 but before the recession was growing.  Lancaster’s 2009 GDP was $18.5 billion dollars.

York came in third at number 129.  Metropolitan York also showed a slight decrease for 2009, like Lancaster, with a GDP of $14.7 billion dollars.

Lebanon came in fourth (sometimes Lebanon is also combined with Harrisburg).  Metropolitan Lebanon was 333^rd on the list with a GDP of $3.5 billion.  Lebanon had a modest gain in 2009 of .6 percent.

Spanish American Civic Association Helping Redevelop And Stabilize Lancaster’s SE Quadrant Neighborhood

Image via Wikipedia

Lancaster’s Spanish American Civic Association (SACA) was formed in 1984 to focus on the purchase and rehabilitation of vacant and blighted homes in Lancaster’s southeast quadrant neighborhood.  This neighborhood is 63 percent rental properties.  Lancaster City is 33.2 percent Hispanic.

The SACA Development Corporation rehabilitates numerous vacant and blighted properties and returns them to the housing market every year.  The new or renovated housing units are affordably priced housing for low or moderate-income families. 

The SACA also provides many other services:  a senior center, meals, employment assistance, case management, HIV/AIDs./HepC counseling/testing, career development, training and adult education, youth programs, drug and alcohol education, student family liaison, behavioral health services, a drug and alcohol treatment facility, adolescent counseling and therapeutic services.

The SACA Development Corporation’s latest project is the near completion of 13 townhouses under their Homeownership Choice Program.  These homes are priced at $99,600.  Twenty-seven other homes were built or converted in two other phases prior to this third phase.  An East Petersburg, PA contractor won the bid so construction was done by a Lancaster County company. 

These are state of the art, energy-efficient homes with every conceivable convenience built in.  Because these homes are new construction in Lancaster City, the owners will benefit from a tax-abatement program and pay lower property taxes.  This third phase of transformation will reduce blight, reduce crime and stabilize the area with homeowners (stakeholders) versus tenants (transient residents).

The Homeownership Choice Program is available through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.  Money also came from the city, the county, the Federal Home Loan Bank in Pittsburgh, PA Department of Community and Economic Development and Neighborhood Assistance program for tax credits.  Lancaster based Fulton Bank was the construction lender. 

Redevelopment really does take a village!

York Strives To Emulate Bethlehem And Lancaster – By Becoming A Walkable Community

Image via Wikipedia

A goal that emerged from the Build York Summit, that concluded yesterday, was for York to become a walkable community.  We here at Roy’s Rants think is a great goal.  York has a compact and very historic downtown like Lancaster and Bethlehem.

Urban land use expert, Chris Leinberger from the Brookings Institute was a keynote speaker at the conference and emphasized that York should embrace the “walkable community” strategy to redevelop the city.  Walkable communities are desired by college students as well as other segments of the population.  Walkable communities have a higher rate of retention once students graduate college and seek employment.  York is already a college town so this strategy could be easily implemented and bear fruit quickly.

Downtown Inc. Director, Sonia Huntzinger took this a step further and said York could also capitalize on the city’s hospitals.  Hospitals tend to be large employers.  Having a vibrant, walkable downtown to present to prospective employees would make recruitment easier for the hospitals.

Lancaster And Harrisburg Promote The Arts And Their Revitalized Downtowns With Monthly Events!

This is an inspiring story about how Lancaster’s success with their First Fridays event has inspired Harrisburg to follow suit.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

Lancaster’s First Fridays event now involves 70 venues!  This free event brings thousands into downtown Lancaster!  This not only benefits the arts scene but all downtown businesses and restaurants.  First Fridays runs from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. every month, without exception!  People come from as far away as Philadelphia and Baltimore!  Franklin and Marshall College is the presenting sponsor of this event.  As a side note, Franklin and Marshall has been instrumental in helping Lancaster with economic development!

While Lancaster has a larger population than Pottstown, it is also a very walkable city of only 7.40 square miles (land area).  A year-round monthly event in downtown Pottstown could yield similar results that would benefit our emerging arts community and our downtown stores and restaurants.  And maybe attract new ones.

Here is a link to Lancaster’s First Fridays event.  Check out this map and list of venues:  http://www.lancasterarts.com/_files/live/FirstFriday_Guide_2011_1st_Qtr_LArts.pdf

Some folks in Harrisburg had watched the success of Lancaster’s First Fridays.  A year ago, three downtown business owners got together and started 3^rd in the Burg.  This idea has grown into a monthly event with up to 15 venues participating already!  That is great for the first year! 

The next 3^rd in the Burg takes place on January 21^st and will feature art, music and food from downtown to midtown!  Nonna’s Delisioso! will feature a 3^rd in the Burg dinner special.  Nonna’s co-owner, Grace Diaz was quoted as saying, 3^rd in the Burg has “introduced people from here and neighboring towns and cities to the revitalization that has taken place in our developing arts community.”  Bingo!!  What better way to entice people to come take a “look-see” than with the arts, food and music.

Participating businesses are experiencing increased sales and foot traffic at their locations.  The event draws many people into downtown Harrisburg who would not ordinarily go there.  Having multiple participants increases the public’s enthusiasm, creates a positive “buzz” and creates a snowball effect.  The ball started out with three participants, now there are 15.  As the momentum builds and the crowds increase, other merchants will take part in making the ball bigger.  As shoppers stroll between participating merchants, they will pass other stores and restaurants along the way.  I can bet you they will stop in those places as well.

The other part of the snowball effect is the arts community.  As this event grows, it will inspire other artists to take part and possibly move to Harrisburg.  Thereby increasing Harrisburg’s arts community and growing 3rd in the Burg further.

The desired result of 3^rd in the Burg is to make Harrisburg a “destination” for the arts, shopping and dining.  I give that two Roy’s Rants thumbs up!

Here is a link to 3rd in the Burg:  http://3rdintheburg.com/

Very Cool Promotional Website Example

Image via Wikipedia

 

Check this out!  It is a very well done website promoting the iron heritage of three communities on the Susquehanna River.   

I lived in Lancaster and never realized that Columbia, Marietta and Wrightsville were former iron producing centers.  Pottstown certainly has a long, rich heritage of iron and steel production going back to John Potts.  If we are looking for things to capitalize on to make Pottstown a “destination” like Bethlehem is for Musikfest this would certainly be something to promote, would it not?   

Click on the link below to view the website.  Under Features is the information on the iron furnaces but the site is a good example on how to capitalize on something!   

http://www.rivertownes.org/index.html