508 and 510 N. 2nd St., the site of a proposed apartment project
Several downtown Harrisburg office buildings soon may have a new lease on life as residential spaces.
The Harrisburg Planning Commission on Wednesday supported proposals by two developers to turn vacant offices on N. 2nd Street into apartments, as well as a project to construct a new transportation center.
First up was Harrisburg-based WCI Partners, which shared its variance and land development plan proposal for 508 and 510 N. 2nd St. Between the two buildings, the company would construct 11 one-bedroom units, ranging from 435 to 538 square feet.
The planning commission voted to recommend approval of the project, in a vote of 5-1. Board member Vern McKissick was the lone “no” vote, saying that he was in favor of the project as a whole, but didn’t agree with the use of a variance, which would allow the developer to construct more units than the city code typically allows for a building of that size.
McKissick expressed concern that WCI requested the variance, in part, to make the conversion work financially, a subject detailed in the Planning Bureau’s case report for the project.
“I just think we are using the wrong tool to get to the right place,” McKissick said. “I just struggle with any language in here that talks about the financial. I think that makes this a very dangerous document to have in our archive.”
Dave Butcher, president of WCI, said that financial feasibility was a factor, but that the unique layout of the building was the major reason why they needed the variance. City Planning Director Geoff Knight agreed.
“I do think there are issues beyond the finances of this, as far as combining units and how this building functions as a multifamily unit dwelling,” Knight said. “When you look at what’s the use after the commercial, I think what they’ve laid out makes sense for how the floor plan is laid out.”
Just two blocks from WCI’s project, developer Breneman Properties has proposed transforming three attached office buildings at 315 N. 2nd St. into a 10-unit apartment building.
The commission unanimously recommended approving the conversion.
Both projects will need to obtain City Council approval before breaking ground.
315 N. 2nd St., the site of a proposed apartment project
Additionally, the planning commission recommended approval for the lot consolidation and land development plan submitted by Susquehanna Regional Transportation Authority to construct a new transportation center on N. Cameron Street.
SRTA, which operates the Rabbittransit bus system, has proposed demolishing its outdated transfer center and building a new one with a temporary bus transfer center on site. The 15-acre project site is bounded by Herr Street, the Harrisburg Cemetery, State Street and Cameron Street.
Harrisburg’s Parks and Recreation facilities currently sit on the project site, but its offices are slated to move and the buildings demolished.
Board member DeRon Jordan said that he was concerned with the location of the bus transfer center being moved from downtown, and said that, in the project documents, the new transfer center does not appear temporary.
“The rest of the project I’m totally on board with, but the transfer center on Cameron Street; it’s not close to downtown,” he said. “My biggest concern is the way that this is constructed; it doesn’t look temporary.”
SRTA officials have shared that the current Market Square Transfer Center is not efficient, as there is not space for enough buses to stop at once. Often, riders are left waiting up to an hour to catch a transfer simply because their current bus and next bus couldn’t fit in the driveway at the same time.
Knight explained that the city, along with SRTA and other stakeholders, has been looking at transfer center location options and, ideally, wants it to be near the Amtrak train station for better continuity. However, those conversations are still ongoing and will take time to figure out, he said.
“We haven’t found a viable final solution, and this project needs to go forward. SRTA needs to have a new operations facility. The money is there right now and, as you guys all know, when the money comes in, that’s the time to strike because it might not come back for a while,” Knight said. “So we’ve been stressing that throughout our whole coordination that we understand that it needs to go here now because of the timeframe […] but our long-term goal needs to be, this [transfer center] needs to be closer to the train station; this needs to be downtown.”
The project will also need city council approval.
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