GreenWorks Development plans to develop this site on the 300-block of Reily Street in Harrisburg into a major residential and commercial project.
State grants for several area projects were announced late Thursday afternoon, including for a major mixed-use development in Midtown Harrisburg.
In a news release, Sen. John DiSanto announced the distribution of $7.2 million in Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grants for Dauphin County and another $1 million for Perry County.
The Dauphin County grants include $2 million in funding for a proposed GreenWorks Development project that would construct 135 market-rate apartments, along with street-level retail, on the 300-block of Reily Street.
Reached by telephone, GreenWorks CEO Doug Neidich said he was delighted by news of the grant.
“I’ve been talking about creating a learn, live, play environment in this area,” he said. “We haven’t been able to do the live portion, but this is the live portion.”
Neidich declined further immediate comment about the project, such as the timeframe, other than to say that the total price tag is expected to be about $26 million.
The property is now a large surface parking lot supporting HACC’s Midtown campus. HACC, though, is significantly reducing its presence in Midtown, returning operations to its main campus at Wildwood.
According to the state RACP website, GreenWorks had requested $4 million for the project, which includes a 135,000-square-foot building for 135 apartments and 10,000-square-feet of “neighborhood-oriented” retail at 320 Reily St. The building is just down the block from the new federal courthouse under construction at N. 6th and Reily streets.
Another $2 million RACP grant was awarded to the National Civil War Museum to acquire its museum artifacts from the city of Harrisburg and to help fund capital improvements to its building and grounds in Reservoir Park.
Nearly two years ago, Harrisburg and the museum agreed to settle a longstanding dispute over funding for the museum and ownership of the artifacts. Under the agreement, the city agreed to sell the museum the permanent collection of artifacts for $5.25 million if the museum could raise the money within five years. The museum had requested a $5 million RACP grant.
Other RACP awards in Dauphin County include:
- $2 million to Derry Township for the Hershey Community Center. The township had requested $2.77 million.
- $700,000 to Insulators Local Union 33 to convert the recently acquired VFW Post 9639 in East Hanover Township to a training and business center.
- $500,000 to Tri-County Housing Development Corp. to remove blighted properties, construct new homes and make streetscape improvements as part of the Hummel Street redevelopment project. Tri-County had requested $1 million.
The state also awarded $1 million to the Perry County Economic Development Corp. for the Perry Innovation Park Cogeneration Power project in Penn Township.
In Cumberland County, REC LMS LLC received a full grant of $1 million to help redevelop the former Lemoyne Middle School for a mixed-use development of 17,500 square feet of commercial space and 30 townhomes.
RACP grants are awarded annually, meant to go to projects that are deemed economically, culturally or historically important.
Read more about the RACP program and recipients.
