TheBurg

10 | theburgnews.com | 11.19 2nD stReet Design chosen Median strips have triumphed over a dedicated bike lane, as Harrisburg last month announced the winning design for its two-way 2nd Street conversion. e city administration stated that residents overwhelmingly preferred "concept 1," which features a center left-turn lane, along with partial median strips, along the two-mile stretch from Forster to Division streets. "e public feedback greatly favored Concept 1, and so the city is ready to move forward with next steps towards its implementation," according to a press release. e competing design, "concept 2," included a protected bike lane, but no center lane. "at's the main difference," Mayor Eric Papenfuse told eBurg previously. "Do you want a center lane with medians, or do you want a bike lane? We can't accommodate both." e winning design also would sacrifice fewer parking spaces. e design would mean the loss of 70 spaces, as opposed to 83 under concept 2, yielding a total of 550 street parking spaces on N. 2nd from Forster to Division streets. e design itself is not primarily responsible for the parking loss. Under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, the city must make intersections ADA-compliant whenever it undertakes significant roadwork, which then reduces parking capacity. e city said that 65 percent of respondents, who voted both in person and online, preferred concept 1 and that 87 percent of respondents wanted the street returned to two-way traffic through Midtown and Uptown Harrisburg. In the 1950s, 2nd Street was made into a three-lane mini- highway to accommodate commuters and has remained that way since. Papenfuse has said that he expects the $5.7 million project to begin next year and be completed in 2021. moRe DoWntoWn apaRtments A plan for a downtown Harrisburg office building has evolved and now will consist of two separate projects—one residential and one office. Harristown Enterprises has decided to split a Market Square project into two pieces, said CEO Brad Jones. e first building, an existing, century-old office building at 17 S. 2nd St., now will become a 30-unit, market-rate apartment building with a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, with retail or restaurant space on the first floor, Jones said. at six-story project will go before the city's Planning Commission this month. e neighboring building, new construction at 21 S. 2nd St., still will become an office building, Jones said. Originally, Harrisburg-based Harristown had planned one large, interconnected office building spanning both sites, but hasn't been able to secure an anchor tenant for it. "We had a number of prospects, but didn't find the right deal on that," Jones said. In 2017, Harristown acquired 21 S. 2nd St. and later knocked down the small, dilapidated building on that site, which now is an empty lot. Last year, it bought the building next door, 17 S. 2nd St., most recently the home of the Skarlatos & Zonarich law firm, which has relocated to Strawberry Square. Jones said that he didn't want 17 S. 2nd St. to sit empty, possibly for years, while his company searched for a large anchor tenant for the office complex, nor could Harristown build it on spec. So, they decided to convert that existing building into apartments, as demand has been strong for other downtown residential projects. Over the past few years, Harristown has built—or is building— about 150 apartment units in downtown Harrisburg, mostly conversions from aging office buildings. Its largest project, two attached, mid-century buildings on the 100-block of Pine Street, will deliver 74 units early next year. Meanwhile, Harristown continues to search for an anchor office tenant for 21 S. 2nd St. Jones said that he envisions that new building to be four to six stories tall, with 10,000 to 15,000 square feet of new office space. Harristown would like to break ground on it in 2021, but timing depends on interest, he said. cRW Receives state loan Capital Region Water is in line to receive a multi-million- dollar state loan that should provide a boost to its ongoing battle against stormwater runoff. Gov. Tom Wolf 's office announced last month that CRW would receive a $13-million, low-interest loan for green infrastructure projects in several Harrisburg neighborhoods, including South Allison Hill and Uptown. CRW's loan from the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority (PENNVEST) constituted a fair chunk of the $98 million in water infrastructure funding announced by Wolf 's office. In all, 11 counties received funding for a variety of drinking water and wastewater projects. In Harrisburg, the loan, which carries an interest rate of 1 percent, will allow CRW to initiate two major projects next year, said Tanya Dierolf, CRW sustainability and strategic projects manager. e first project will take place in the heart of Allison Hill around the intersections of Derry, 14th and 15th streets. CRW will install a variety of green infrastructure, including tree trenches, planter boxes and catch basins, along with new, ADA- compliant ramps, Dierolf said. e second project planned for 2020 will take place Uptown near the Camp Curtin YMCA. at project will include planters, bumpouts, inlets and catch basins, as well as new ADA-compliant ramps, Dierolf said. From 2021-24, the loan will fund additional stormwater projects in Uptown Harrisburg and near Paxton Creek, she said. CRW is under a partial consent decree with the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection to slash pollutant levels flowing into area waterways. Much of the problem lies with Harrisburg's obsolete combined sewer system, which allows untreated stormwater and wastewater to flow into the Susquehanna River during moderate and heavy rainfalls. CRW plans to invest $315 million over the next 20 years to upgrade its sewer system and install green infrastructure, which is a major part of its plan to reduce stormwater flows through its system. Rezoning gets appRoval A Harrisburg builder is a step closer to developing in a Midtown neighborhood, as the city Planning Commission has approved a zoning change that would allow a denser, more mixed-use neighborhood. Seven Bridges Development received approval last month to rezone about 14 city blocks just north of the Broad Street Market. e zoning change from "residential medium neighborhood" to "commercial neighborhood" would permit greater height, density and mix of uses in the Marketplace townhouse neighborhood. "e idea is take vacant parcels and give Midtown more opportunities for residential and commercial," said Seven Bridges attorney Christopher Rice of the Carlisle-based Martson Law Offices. In late 2005, the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority sold 71 individual lots to State College-based S&A Homes for $1 apiece. S&A built a handful of houses then stopped, causing the authority recently to buy back the undeveloped parcels. In late April, the authority designated Seven Bridges as the potential developer of the remaining 60 lots in the Marketplace neighborhood, City Planning Director Geoffrey Knight said that Seven Bridges would need to return to the planning commission to get its land use plans approved for individual projects, regardless of whether the zoning change is made. "It will allow more development to occur by right, but it won't exempt any new project from going through the land development process," he said. In the end, the planning commission voted 4-2 in favor of the change, with commissioners Anne Marek and Ausha Green dissenting. Harrisburg City Council now must approve the proposed zoning amendment. DoWntoWn oFFice BuilDing planneD Harristown Development and Select Capital Commercial Properties are teaming to build a new, mixed-use building in the center of the 300-block of Market Street, directly across from Strawberry Square. "is is the last area on Market Street in the core of downtown that needs redevelopment," said Harristown CEO Brad Jones. "is is the final piece." e developers envision a 10- to 12-story, 100,000-plus-square- foot office and retail building at 307 to 313 Market St. e building, called 311 Market Street, also would have several floors of parking and might include residential space. For the past few years, Harristown has been purchasing properties to assemble the site. Recently, the company closed on the final, and largest, piece, buying the former Rite Aid drug store from the Camp Hill-based company for just over $1 million. Jones said that plans are to demolish the existing structures, probably next year. In the meantime, the developers hope to recruit an anchor tenant. If construction is delayed following demolition, the developers would turn the site into a "pocket park" in the interim, a space that could be used for events, Jones said. "We would have a nice transitional use," he said. Harristown this year applied for a state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant in the amount of $5 million for the project, which is estimated to cost $25 to $40 million in all. It didn't receive the funds, but will apply again next year, Jones said. home sales, pRices up Harrisburg area home sales jumped in September and prices also rose thanks to a drop in mortgage rates, according to the Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors (GHAR). In the three-county region, home sales increased to 607 units, a jump of 18.1 percent over September 2018, while the median home sales price rose 5.1 percent to $181,000, GHAR said last month. In Dauphin County, 292 housing units sold versus 254 in the year-ago period, and the median sales price increased to $167,500 compared to $164,900. Cumberland County saw home sales increase to 286 units from 233, while the median price rose to $209,950 from $189,000 in September 2018. In Perry County, home sales increased by two units, to 29, while the median price was unchanged at $149,900, compared to the year-ago period, according to GHAR. Overall, sales inventory was down by about 10 percent compared to September 2018, GHAR said. "e sharp drop in mortgage rates over the past year has created additional demand," said GHAR, in a press release. in memoRiam Rev. Rick Hawtrey, Jr., the owner of Capital Joe Coffee, died last month after a brief illness. A native of Milwaukee, Hawtrey, 43, lived in Mechanicsburg and operated Harrisburg-based Hawtrey Inc., an IT training company. Several years ago, he opened his first coffee shop on Forster Street in Harrisburg then opened a second shop in downtown Mechanicsburg. He was a licensed minister in the United Pentecostal Church and a member and minister of the Apostolic Faith Church in Mechanicsburg. He also helped start the first PA campus of Purpose Institute. Rick was a friend of eBurg, and our staff would like to express our condolences to his loved ones.

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