The site of a proposed apartment project on N. 4th Street.
An apartment project proposed for Harrisburg is moving closer to completing the city approval process.
At a meeting on Tuesday, City Council weighed a proposal from Harrisburg-based Midtown Redevelopment LLC to construct a four-story, 36-unit senior apartment building on a vacant lot at 1610 N. 4th St.
In February, the Harrisburg Planning Commission voted in favor of the project, which includes consolidating 19 lots and vacating several grocer’s alleys on the project site. The proposal also received relief from the Zoning Hearing Board in 2022.
The proposal also includes first-floor commercial space, 30 first-floor interior parking spaces and 12 outdoor, on-site parking spots.
Council members asked questions about whether the developer would include minority- and women-owned businesses in the contracting process. According to Matt Long, with Harrisburg Commercial Interiors, the general contractor for the project, at least 20% of their contractors will fall under that criteria. Additionally, he said they often host community meetings with city-based contractors on the bidding process.
“I appreciate you doing that,” said council member Lamont Jones. “A lot of people are building in this community, and there are some jobs needed around here. So, we would love to help our community share in the growth of the city.”
Long also noted that this proposal is part of the second phase of a series of housing and commercial projects that the developer has planned for Midtown.
Council is slated to vote on the project at a May 14 meeting. Additionally, council will still need to hear and vote on the street vacation portion of the proposal.
In other news, local climate change activist Char Magaro presented her plan to transform a vacant lot on S. 15th and Swatara streets into a neighborhood park. Magaro and a group of community volunteers said that they would work to develop the park and coordinate maintenance for several years, with the city eventually taking ownership of the park.
At the meeting, the city asked council to ratify its submission of a grant application to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) for funding for the park.
The proposal for the Swatara Street Park includes planting trees, shrubs and pollinator plants and eventually adding recreational elements.
While most council members said they were in favor of the project, a few had concerns about the potential impact on the neighborhood and the cost of future maintenance to the city.
“I think the project is beautiful, but I’m worried about gentrifying this neighborhood,” Jones said. “This looks like a beautiful project, but I think with a housing shortage, these are parcels we could build some more properties for people to live in.”
Several community members attended Tuesday’s meeting to show support for the park project.
“That is in my backyard. That’s something I walk out and see every single day. That is an area that I see people dumping every day,” said one resident. “Our youth is crying. We have got to have something.”
Also on Tuesday, council discussed allocating $8 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to replace the city’s Hall Manor pool, with a small allotment going toward repairing the Jackson Lick pool.
In July 2023, council voted to move $31.4 million in ARPA funds into the city’s general fund as revenue replacement, but specified certain projects that the money would fund. In March, council approved the city to start using that money for some of those designated projects. The resolution discussed on Tuesday would approve the use of a portion of the money for another specified project–the pool.
Initially, $1.9 million of the $8 million for pool projects was to be used for preliminary site inspections and prep work at the Hall Manor pool, which is closed. The additional $6 million was to be earmarked for construction in a second phase of the project.
The total project is estimated to take over two years, according to city Facilities Director Dave Baker.
Out of the total $8 million, $55,000 would support pool patching and temporary repairs at Jackson Lick to allow the city to keep it open this summer. In 2022, the city was awarded $5 million in state COVID-relief funding to renovate the pool. However, according to city officials, the city cannot spend the grant money until a legal tie-up around the pool’s ownership is resolved with the Harrisburg School District, which owns the property.
“We need to utilize the funds so we can keep it up and running,” Baker said of the ARPA money. “At this point, in the condition that it’s in, it wouldn’t be feasible to allow the public in the pool.”
However several council members expressed opposition to using ARPA funds on Jackson Lick–a project that council did not originally designate the funds for–and taking them away from the Hall Manor project.
“I don’t know why we don’t just eliminate that pool and just have the pool that is out in the south [Hall Manor],” council member Jocelyn Rawls said. “It’s almost as if we’re throwing money away instead of using it for a single pool. I just don’t understand throwing out $55,000 for it to get through one summer and then not really knowing where it goes from there. I want to make sure we are doing the best possible with our ARPA money.”
Other council members said that they would like to find money from elsewhere in the city’s budget for the Jackson Lick repairs.
“I’m not taking the $55,000 out of the general budget when I have to be very careful about my spending,” said Mayor Wanda Williams, who appeared at the end of council’s meeting. “We need to open a pool this summer. Right now, our kids do not have a pool at all.”
Council is slated to vote on the resolution at an April 17 meeting.
This story has been updated with the correct photo of the proposed site of a senior apartment building on N. 4th Street.
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