Greater Harrisburg's Community Magazine

August News Digest

 

Harrisburg Crime Rate Falls

Serious crime in Harrisburg plummeted by almost 21 percent for the first six months of the year, according to statistics reported last month to the FBI.

Compared to the same period of last year, nearly all “Part 1” crimes were down by double-digits, including rape, vehicle theft, robbery, assault and burglary. Homicides were unchanged at seven.

Arson was the only crime that showed an increase, with 11 cases from January through June, as opposed to eight cases in 2014.

The statistics that the Harrisburg Police Bureau reported to the FBI include (Jan.-June 2015 vs. Jan.-June 2014):
Homicide: 7 vs. 7
Rape: 15 vs. 28
Robbery: 115 vs. 155
Assault: 593 vs. 680
Burglary: 238 vs. 263
Theft: 409 vs. 591
Auto Theft: 63 vs. 96
Arson: 11 vs. 8

In 2014, Part 1 crimes were down by 8 percent for the entire year.

Reed Defense Fund Goes Live
 
A website launched last month to accept contributions to the legal defense of former Harrisburg Mayor Steve Reed.

The website, justiceforsteve.com, seeks to raise money to help Reed battle 499 criminal counts filed against him in July by the state attorney general’s office. The charges cover a wide range of alleged corruption, centering on Reed’s use of public borrowings to direct money to pet projects and favored professionals.

The website also refutes the state’s allegations against Reed.

“Steve Reed was one of the most honest, dedicated and brilliant public servants to ever serve our city and accusations now being levied against him are a travesty,” states the website, which adds that “it’s time to stand up for Steve Reed!”

Reed has engaged the Philadelphia-based law firm of Ballard Spahr to assist him with his defense.

More Downtown Apartments

New apartments continue to spring up in downtown Harrisburg, as Harristown Enterprises plans to add 23 more units near Strawberry Square.

Harristown expects to start this fall on the renovation of a six-story office building at 18-22 S. 3rd St., which also houses El Sol Mexican restaurant, which will continue to operate. The building will feature 15 high-end, one-bedroom apartments, each measuring about 800 square feet.

Directly across the street, Harristown will renovate historic townhouses at 19, 21, 23 and 27 S. 3rd St. Those three-story townhouses will contain eight one-bedroom and two-bedroom apartments, as well as commercial space on the ground floors.

This is the second time recently that Harristown announced it would convert downtown commercial space to apartments. It recently received City Council approval to renovate 21,000 square feet of office space and another 6,000 square feet of loft space to 22 apartments above a stretch of shops along N. 3rd and Market streets in Strawberry Square.

“We believe the market for high-end and unique apartments in the downtown is very strong, and we look forward to continuing to grow the downtown residential population,” said Brad Jones, president and CEO of Harristown.

All of these projects are slated for completion in spring 2016.

Over the past two years, downtown housing has experienced a rapid revival, with numerous office-to-residential conversions. Most recently, WCI Partners completed its Walnut Court Apartments, a 21-unit project at Walnut and Court streets that opened in July and is already mostly leased, according to WCI President David Butcher.

Harristown will partner with Select Capital Commercial Properties for a portion of its most recent project.

New SAM Director
 
The Susquehanna Art Museum has named Alice Anne Schwab as its new executive director.
Schwab last served as director of education for the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra and currently serves on the boards of several local non-profit organizations.

Schwab replaced Laurene Buckley, who served a little over two years in the post. Under her tenure, the museum constructed its new facility, which opened in January at N. 3rd and Calder streets in Midtown Harrisburg.

In this position, Schwab will oversee the day-to-day operations of the museum, supervising both the administrative and creative teams to create a “premier regional art museum,” according to the museum’s announcement.

To learn more about the Susquehanna Art Museum, visit www.sqart.org.
 
 

Little Amps to Open 3rd Location
 
Attention state workers—your high-quality caffeine fix is closer than ever as Little Amps Coffee Roasters soon will open in Strawberry Square.

The third location of the Harrisburg-based coffee shop is slated to debut in October in vacant space adjacent to the Chockablock Clock on the first floor, said Brad Jones, president and CEO of Harristown Enterprises, which owns and manages Strawberry Square.

Little Amps owner Aaron Carlson said he was attracted to Strawberry Square so he can serve office workers who may not venture to his other shops.

“Our other stores tend to attract people who live in the city,” he said. “There are some 9-to-5 coffee-lovers that we think we can attract.”

The new location will be small, a kiosk-style space with a few cafe tables, Carlson said.

Little Amps was founded in October 2011 with a single location at the corner of Green and Muench streets in Olde Uptown in Harrisburg. It later opened a downtown location at the corner of N. 2nd and State streets.

 
Changing Hands
 
Boas St., 110: M. Lehocky to A. Seig, $130,000
Boas St., 1855: Pennymac Corp to M. Myers, $38,000
Boas St., 402: I. Lewis to E. Musselman, $89,900
Briggs St., 1608: C. Johnson to M. Bullock, $105,000
Crescent St., 326: S. & S. Rodriguez to O. & Z. Gonzalez, $51,000
Cumberland St., 270: W. Fritz & PA Deals LLC to D. Reinhart, $125,000
Derry St., 1201½ & 1224: S. & S. Rodriguez to O. & Z. Gonzalez, $51,000
Fillmore St., 614: C. Badillo to G. Boyd, $69,900
Fulton St., 1419: G. & D. Hanslovan to A. Skerpon, $88,500
Fulton St., 1420: PA Deals LLC to V. & D. Poplaski, $95,000
Green St., 1100: N. & A. Hoffner to B. Smith, $140,000
Green St., 1115: W. Hoover & D. Scoyoc to R. Slater & K. Hribar, $175,000
Green St., 1515: F. Bierach & R. Stanley to J. Barton, $109,900
Green St., 710: M. Coble to N. Pinkston & C. Maximowicz, $163,000
Hamilton St., 213: M. Montaine to R. & F. Armetta, $155,000
Harris St., 330: K. Barrow to A. Roth, $102,000
Kelker St., 201: Rockville Enterprises LLC to R. Stelzer, $82,500
Logan St., 1733: PA Deals LLC to D. Dougherty & K. Lyons, $96,900
Manada St., 2016: PA Deals LLC to D. Reinhart, $94,800
Mulberry St., 1158: S. Elazouni to S. Patel, $65,000
Nagle St., 119 & 709 Showers St.: T. Sangrey to J. Baer & A. Jury, $251,000
N. 2nd St., 1827: K. Dougherty to J. Reneker & A. Woodrow, $110,000
N. 2nd St., 2135: Fannie Mae to PA Deals LLC, $45,000
N. 2nd St., 2727: M. & J. Hobson to W. Stabler, $246,900
N. 3rd St., 712: Grandkott Corp. & M. Granderson to MLP LLC, $126,000
N. 3rd St., 1229: S. Johnsen to J. Geronimo, $126,000
N. 4th St., 1905: K. Clifford to A. Adesubokan, $75,000
N. 5th St., 3108: Secretary of Veterans Affairs to J. Charlton, $33,478
N. 6th St., 3212: PA Deals LLC to V. & D. Poplaski, $100,000
N. 19th St., 28: D. County Property Investors LLC to N. Grimes, $50,000
Paxton St., 1908: S. Benjamin to Niel Real Estate Investments LLC, $250,000
Penn St., 1910: WCI Partners LP to A. LaFountain, $154,900
S. 20th St., 19: M. Wolde & H. Andemapiam to W. Kharalah, $32,000
S. 25th Street, 432: P. Bauer to D. Price, $106,000
S. 29th St., 520 & 576: Goodrich Associates to Amerco Real Estate Company, $1,800,000
S. River St., 317: J. Dominick & R. Swartzentruber to W. Danowski & A. Mead, $82,000
Seneca St., 313: R. Sheetz to M. & V. Keyes, $35,000
Verbeke St., 222: A. DiSilvestro to E. Dean, $140,000
Vineyard Rd., 214: V. Grodner to L. Csovelak & A. Trone, $184,000
Walnut St., 211: M. Ntonados to R. Rammouni, $150,000
Zarker St., 2007: M. Wolde & H. Andemapiam to W. Kharalah, $32,000

Harrisburg property sales for July 2015, greater than $30,000. Source Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.

Continue Reading