Tag Archives: Harrisburg Zoning Hearing Board

Modern-style apartment building proposed along riverfront in Harrisburg

February 3, 2023 | by Lawrance Binda

A developer has proposed razing these two Front Street buildings and constructing an apartment building in their place.

A new apartment building may be coming to Uptown Harrisburg, as a New Jersey-based developer is proposing a 21-unit structure along the riverfront.

On Wednesday night, the city’s Planning Commission heard the proposal by EI Realty of Cedar Knolls, N.J., which wants to raze two mid-century office buildings and build “Dauphin House Apartments,” a modern-style, glass-and-masonry apartment building in their place.

“We believe we’re really going to improve the lot and really it’ll be an asset to the neighborhood,” said Christine Hunter, project manager for the site designers, Harrisburg-based H. Edward Black and Associates.

The building plan consists of six, two-bedroom and 15, one-bedroom units located at 2709 and 2717 N. Front St., according to Adam Kerr, vice president of the Harrisburg-based architect EI Associates, an entity affiliated with the developer. The units would rent at market rate.

The project also features 44 parking spaces. These include sheltered parking beneath the three-story building, which would be elevated due to the flooding risk.

A rendering of the proposed apartment building

The site currently features two small, mid-century office buildings.

According to the city’s Planning Bureau, the existing, “nondescript” buildings were constructed in 1956 and 1965 and do not contribute to the city’s historic or architectural character.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, several neighbors near the project said they had no problem with demolishing the existing buildings. However, they expressed concern that the apartment building would increase traffic on River Alley, just to the rear of the site.

“I’m all for improvement to our neighborhood, and I believe that the proper building would be an improvement,” said one neighbor who lives directly behind the proposed building. “My concerns are that River Alley is a highly trafficked alley, not just with cars, (with) pedestrians. There are young children that live within one block, people walking pets. And that would be my one concern—the impact of the traffic.”

Furthermore, the neighbors said they worried that bright lights from the site could encroach on their properties.

In the end, the Planning Commission gave unanimous support to the special exception request for a “multi-family dwelling,” but set a condition that project representatives meet with nearby residents to address their concerns.

“I am in favor of seeing some of those commercial buildings go away and seeing residential properties coming back along the riverfront stretch,” said commissioner Anne Marek, before voting in favor of the special exception. “Obviously, the folks living there will have very nice views.”

Kerr remarked that the developers want to maximize the use of glass as a building material to offer future tenants the best possible vistas of the Susquehanna River.

Several commissioners, however, commented that they hoped that the building façade would be more aesthetically appealing than that indicated by the design rendering, which they found unattractive.

The special exception request now goes before the city’s Zoning Hearing Board for final approval. If that board grants the zoning relief, the project can return to the Planning Commission for consideration of a land development plan. If approved, the land development plan also would need to pass City Council before construction could begin.

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The Millworks gets zoning approval to expand to nearby building, move brewery

March 22, 2022 | by Lawrance Binda

The Millworks plans to expand into this building at N. 4th and Sayford streets. The main Millworks restaurant and gallery space is the brick building to the right.

Two once-paired buildings soon may be reunited in use, as the Millworks plans to relocate its small brewery to an industrial structure across a narrow street.

On Monday, the Harrisburg Zoning Hearing Board approved an application that allows owner Joshua Kesler to move the Millworks brewery operations into a brick building at the rear of his restaurant, directly across Sayford Street.

“The genesis of this application is really an expansion of the Millworks operation,” said Kesler’s attorney, Ambrose Heinz of Harrisburg-based Stevens & Lee. “There’s currently a micro-brewing operation within the Millworks . . . that would be relocated into this facility.”

In 2014, Kesler bought the long-vacant Stokes Millworks building and transformed it into a now-popular restaurant and art space, later adding a small brewery.

Then, last November, he bought the Millworks’ sister building, a two-story, 8,640-square-foot structure across the street at 1321 N. 4^th St. That building was constructed in 1939 to store lumber and support the manufacture of wood products for the Stokes Millworks.

In 1998, Thomas Slothower bought the auxiliary building on 4^th Street from the Stokes family and used it for his own living and storage space, before selling it to Kesler last year for $385,000, according to the city.

Kesler now plans to move the Millworks’ microbrewery operations and offices into the former lumber storage building, freeing up space for expansion of the restaurant. He also expects to carve out dedicated space for meetings and events in the brewery building.

“It is the expansion of the current operations of the Millworks,” Kesler told the board.

At the meeting, Kesler first needed a variance for the brewery use. Though the auxiliary building was long used for commercial/industrial purposes, it currently sits in the city’s “residential-medium” zoning district, which does not permit industrial uses, including for a brewery, by right.

Secondly, Kesler needed a special exception for nine parking spaces, as there is no off-street parking on the planned brewery site.

After over 2½ hours of testimony, the zoning board unanimously voted in favor of both of these measures.

The board, however, balked at a third application for zoning relief.

In this case, Kesler sought a variance to establish a surface parking lot encompassing an entire city block at Verbeke and James streets. Kesler has actually operated a gravel parking lot at this site for several years for use by Millworks patrons, but has not received zoning approval for it.

Kesler said that he believes that the existing gravel lot already complies with city regulations, a position that the city disputes.

The Millworks’ gravel parking lot at Verbeke and James streets. The Millworks restaurant can be seen in the background, on the right, and the future brewery building in the background, in the center of the picture.

Both the city’s Planning Bureau and Planning Commission had attempted to tie together the brewery building approvals with improvements to the parking lot a block away. Both bodies required, as a condition for approval, that Kesler “formalize” and improve the lot with paving, landscaping and sidewalk reconstruction.

Kesler then would have the city’s blessing for the 48-space lot to serve as accessory parking for both the new brewery and the Millworks restaurant.

The zoning board, however separated the issues. It approved the building variance and parking special exception for the brewery building, but struck the condition requiring Kesler to formalize and improve the existing gravel parking lot.

In light of this, Kesler withdrew his application for the parking lot variance, so board members did not vote on that related issue.

At the meeting, board members did not publicly explain why they voted the way they did or why, against the wishes of the city Planning Bureau and Planning Commission, they unlinked the building approvals with the parking lot improvements.

According to Kesler, it may be awhile before the Millworks expansion takes place. Due to material and labor shortages, the project’s construction timeline is “more than a year” away, he said.

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Large Midtown apartment building gets OK from Harrisburg zoning board

October 19, 2021 | by Lawrance Binda

A rendering of the proposed apartment building at Reily and N. 4th streets

A large apartment building proposed for Midtown Harrisburg received a key approval on Monday night, as the project passed muster with the city zoning board.

The Harrisburg Zoning Hearing Board voted 2-0 to approve a variance and several special exceptions for the 155-unit project at 320 Reily St., currently a paved parking lot covering an entire city block at Reily and N. 4th streets.

Several issues were on the table, but most of the two-hour discussion centered on parking for the project, which consists of one- and two-bedroom, market-rate apartments and a 3,000-square-foot commercial space.

As currently configured, the project would be built with 86 parking spaces on site, considerably fewer than the 206 spaces required by city code.

The developer also proposes to use an adjacent parking lot that consists of 72 spaces. Those spaces would be shared with commercial tenants of GreenWorks Development, whose owner, Doug Neidich, is a partner in the apartment project, along with Baltimore-based Washington Place Equities.

The developers told the board that they believed that this amount of parking would be sufficient, saying that some tenants wouldn’t have cars and that most residential and commercial tenants would use the shared lot at different times of the day.

“Statistically, over the course of a day, we feel we have adequate parking for the residential uses as well as the commercial uses that will be … as efficient a use as possible,” Neidich told the board.

The current site of the proposed apartment building is a surface parking lot.

Zoning board members acknowledged that parking presented a difficult challenge.

“The 72-space lot being non-exclusive is sort of contrary to how I understand human nature to work,” said board Chair Thomas Leonard. “I could see squabbles over those spaces.”

The developers told the board that they’d consider other measures to alleviate parking issues, such as mass transit subsidies for tenants and/or a car sharing service like Zipcar.

Board member Shannon Gority added that the 72-space shared lot is lightly used currently and that she believed additional parking would be developed in the neighborhood as demand increased for it.

In fact, earlier this year, the city approved another apartment project two blocks up Reily Street that, under the current design, includes a 500-space parking garage.

In the end, the board voted to grant the parking exception, with the provision that the developers enter into a legally binding agreement linking the shared lot to the apartment building.

Before breaking ground, the developers now must submit a land development plan to the city, which must be approved by the city Planning Commission and City Council.

“It’s a matter of getting a couple of more steps done, and we’ll get moving,” Neidich said, following the meeting.

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Affordable housing development for seniors gets zoning board approval after parking controversy

August 17, 2021 | by Maddie Gittens

Harrisburg Zoning Hearing Board meeting on Monday.

An affordable housing development for seniors received Harrisburg zoning board approval on Monday night, after significant pushback from neighbors at previous meetings.

Limited parking was a major concern for a number of residents at last month’s meeting and at a special meeting earlier this month. But Bethel Village developers now have identified additional parking and will move forward with their proposed plan.

“We are just happy that the zoning board made the right decision for the residents of the community and also for the Bethel Village project,” said Ryan Sanders, of RB Development, the developer of the project.

At last month’s Zoning Hearing Board meeting, developers presented their plan to build a 49-unit apartment building for low-income seniors on N. 6^th and Herr streets. Their proposal included only four off-street parking spaces, which drew objections from many neighbors, who said that finding a place to park is already a struggle.

Bethel Village officials stated that, since the project caters to low-income seniors, they don’t expect most to own cars.

However, on Tuesday, they handed board members agreements they have with nearby Tabernacle Baptist Church for the future use of 15 surface parking spaces and with the state Department of General Services for use of 10 spots. While the zoning relief didn’t require them to create that many parking spaces, they hoped to satisfy neighbors, explained Esch McCombie, an attorney with McNees, Wallace & Nurick, the law firm representing Bethel.

“We feel like we have clearly addressed those parking concerns and have gone above and beyond what we were required to do,” McCombie said. “We are trying to be a good neighbor.”

Proposed site of Bethel Village at N. 6th and Herr streets.

The $15 million project recently received approval from the Harrisburg Planning Commission for its land development plan, contingent upon zoning approval, and now will need final approval from City Council before it can break ground.

According to Sanders, Bethel Village would become part of the “Jackson Square” project that aims to redevelop a block with ties to local African American history on N. 6^th Street.

The four-story, nearly 45,000-square-foot building would partially sit on the site of the former Bethel AME church that burned down in 1995. It would provide one- and two-bedroom rental units ranging in price from $300 to $1,000 per month for qualifying seniors.

“The next crisis after COVID is an affordable housing crisis,” said Blane Stoddart of RB Development. “We must find a way to build affordable housing so that people are not living on the streets, especially our seniors.”

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Parking Problems: Neighbors object to proposed senior housing development on N. 6th Street

July 20, 2021 | by Maddie Gittens

The proposed site of Bethel Village at Herr and N. 6th streets.

At a packed Harrisburg Zoning Hearing Board Meeting on Monday night, residents’ hands shot up, one-by-one, to express their opposition to a proposed affordable housing project for seniors.

Local development group RB Development, along with several partners, presented their plans for Bethel Village, an affordable housing community for senior citizens at N. 6^th and Herr streets.

The proposed development was discussed at a community meeting a few weeks ago with little opposition from residents, most comments coming from supporters of the project. However, at Monday’s meeting, many residents waited nearly four hours to get the chance to voice their concerns.

“I’ve spoken to many of the neighbors, and no one objects to affordable housing,” said Ted Hanson, a long-time resident of Boas Street.

However, Hanson presented board members with a petition signed by 60 neighborhood residents. Their main concern: parking.

The Bethel Village project proposes a 49-unit building for qualifying low-income seniors on land that once housed, in part, the historic Bethel AME Church, which burned down in 1995. Last week, Bethel Village purchased the land from Bethel AME, a partner in the project.

Bethel Village is proposing four parking spots for their building, 15 fewer than the required number under the zoning code, explained Esche McCombie, an attorney with McNees, Wallace & Nurick, the law firm representing Bethel.

However, Bethel Village developers do not see this as a problem, explained Ava Goldman of Gardner Capital, another partner in the project. Based on her experience working in affordable housing development, she expects that a large majority of their seniors will not own cars.

But residents who spoke at Monday’s meeting painted a picture of a congested neighborhood with little room for the vehicles of people who already live there, let alone those for as many as 50 newcomers.

“There are nights when I come home at midnight from the hospital, and I cannot find a parking spot,” said resident Allison Deturk-Malia, a nurse. “You mean to tell me that four parking spots are going to be OK for our neighborhood? I don’t think so.”

McCombie reiterated that they don’t expect most residents to have cars, and for visitors and family members, they referenced new on-street parking recently added to 6^th Street. They also plan to incorporate bike racks on their property.

Some residents brought up concerns with the facade of the building, saying it wouldn’t fit in with the historic neighborhood. Others commented on traffic in the neighborhood, explaining that it can already be unsafe for pedestrians with cars turning off of 6^th onto Boas at high speeds. They suggested that the development would make the situation even worse.

“We want to work with the neighbors,” said Blane Stoddart of RB Development. “We would not do anything to put you in danger or to put your kids in danger.”

Despite the neighborhood concerns, Stoddart emphasized that they fully plan to move forward with the $15 million project, saying that they have already received low-income tax credit money from the state. Financially, Bethel developers said that they cannot provide more parking.

“This is a project that is going to happen,” he said. “Seventy-one percent of Harrisburg residents qualify, income-wise, to live in this project.”

Zoning board members voted to continue the Bethel Village discussion in a special hearing on Aug. 3 at 6 p.m.

Also on the long agenda for Monday night were several other projects that received continuances.

At June’s zoning meeting, Harrisburg-based D&F Realty Holdings presented its plans to convert a 16,500-square-foot building at 423 Division St. into an apartment building. The building previously housed Congregation Chisuk Emuna before it was damaged in a 2009 fire. In recent years the building has remained blighted.

D&F’s proposal included no on-site parking spots, but developers said they spoke with the Scottish Rite Cathedral about utilizing their lot, a few blocks away.

Zoning board Chair Thomas Leonard said that he needed to see a formal agreement with the cathedral and continued the project to the Aug. 16 meeting.

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Harrisburg Zoning Board weighs three apartment projects, approves one

June 22, 2021 | by Lawrance Binda

Three apartment projects met very different fates on Monday night, as Harrisburg’s zoning board considered building proposals in Midtown, Allison Hill and Uptown.

At the beginning of the meeting, Thomas Leonard, chair of the city’s Zoning Hearing Board, stated that Seven Bridges Property Development had withdrawn its application for the construction of two small apartment buildings in Midtown.

Last October, the Harrisburg-based builder unveiled plans to construct a nine-unit building at Calder and N. 4^th streets and a 12-unit building a block away at Calder and Marion streets on property owned by the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority.

The developer was originally scheduled to make its case for zoning relief last November, but requested a series of continuances from month to month. It finally withdrew its application entirely for the two-building project, according to the city.

Seven Bridges could not be reached immediately for comment.

Next, the board heard the continuation of a case from May—a proposal to convert a blighted, 11,500-square-foot industrial building on Allison Hill into a 12-unit apartment building.

Philadelphia-based Radon Construction wants to renovate and construct one-bedroom units in the former Church of God/Central Publishing House at 100 N. 13^th St., a building that has been abandoned for decades. However, its proposal has been met with concern by some neighbors, mostly over issues of parking.

A rendering of the proposed apartment building (Chris Dawson Architects)

Originally, owner Gregory Radon proposed 12 parking spaces, two fewer than mandated by the zoning code. City building setback and landscaping requirements further reduced the number of parking spaces to 10.

At the virtual meeting on Monday night, Loretta Barbee-Dare, president of the Summit Terrace Neighborhood Association, asked why more parking couldn’t be provided on empty lots at the rear of the building on Linden Street. Those lots conveyed with Radon’s $135,000 building purchase from CPenn Patriot Properties in January 2020.

“With nine parcels, how can you not find more parking for your tenants?” asked Barbee-Dare, who advocated for 15 total parking spaces.

After much discussion, the board approved zoning relief of three parking spaces, indicating a configuration with 11 total spaces, with the understanding that the project’s site civil engineer will try to carve out additional parking in its final design.

“If there’s the opportunity to squeeze in more space on these lots, they will,” said the project’s architect, Chris Dawson.

With zoning approval, the project’s land development plan now must be approved by the city’s Planning Commission and City Council, before construction can begin.

Parking also was a key issue in the final case on Monday night, a proposal by Harrisburg-based D&F Realty Holdings to convert a 16,500-square-foot building at 423 Division St. into an apartment building.

The 65-year-old building long housed Congregation Chisuk Emuna, but the synagogue was heavily damaged in a 2009 fire. In 2012, it was sold to the Ahmadiya Movement in Islam, but has remained boarded up and blighted. D&F Realty bought the building in May for $110,000, according to Dauphin County.

A developer wants to turn the former Chisuk Emuna synagogue into an apartment building.

Originally, D&F proposed a 24-unit apartment building, which met with objections from both the city Planning Bureau and the Planning Commission, as the city’s zoning code only allows 11 units by right for a building of its size.

D&F has now scaled back its proposal to 18 units, which Deputy Planning Director David Clapsaddle said that the city could support.

The project also has no parking on site, but D&F has proposed entering into an agreement for parking with the Scottish Rite Cathedral, which is located about two blocks away.

“We think the 18 units and the parking with the Scottish Rite Temple really heads us in the right direction,” said Clapsaddle, who added that the city wants to encourage adaptive reuse of Harrisburg’s older institutional buildings.

Speaking on behalf of D&F, Dale Hair of Lemoyne-based KD3 Design Studio, said that 18 units were needed for the project to be financially viable, as the blighted, fire-damaged building needs major restoration.

“We’re trying to look to convert this property that has been sitting there for over 10 years in dilapidated condition and get it back on the tax roles, too, “ Hair said. “There is a need for housing, as we know, in this Uptown neighborhood.”

He added that D&F hadn’t yet entered into negotiations with Scottish Rite for parking, but planned to do so.

Nonetheless, numerous neighbors voiced objections to the project, on both density and parking grounds.

“I like the idea of Scottish Rite Cathedral providing parking,” said neighbor Sarah Chambers. “That seems like a good compromise, but it is concerning. What are they going to do when they don’t want to walk over the two blocks to park at the Scottish Rite Cathedral, and they want to park closer to the building?”

In the end, Hair asked for a continuance until the July meeting. He said that he would present more financial information on the project to justify the 18 units at that time, and, in the interim, would work towards an agreement with Scottish Rite for parking.

If zoning relief is granted, the project next would need to have its building plan approved by both the city Planning Commission and City Council.

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The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

February 26, 2021 | by Lawrance Binda and Maddie Conley Gittens

An artist at a 3rd in the Burg exhibit at the Civic Club of Harrisburg.

Get outside, enjoy the weather and pick up a copy of the new March issue of TheBurg Magazine! This month, we feature the hard work of local nonprofits. In the meantime, don’t forget to catch up on this past week’s news, listed and linked, below.

“The Black is Beautiful Expo” will take place, for the second time, at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Harrisburg this weekend. Around 30 local Black-owned businesses will be in attendance, our online story reported.

Bob’s Art Blog spotlighted the diverse art exhibit at the Civic Club of Harrisburg for 3^rd in the Burg. The event was hosted by Reina Wooden, “R76” and featured an array of other local artists.

Christine Titih, a local author and entrepreneur, founded the Oaks of Central PA, an organization that advocates for and supports African immigrants in the area. Our magazine article tells Titih’s story, including why she recently released a book on finding faith and purpose during uncertain times.

COVID-19 hit, with the resulting lockdown and ensuing job loss, and was a perfect storm to upend those in recovery. But organizations continue the work to help those struggling, blunting the seclusion and stress. Read more in our magazine story.

The COVID-19 Hospitality Industry Recovery Program (CHIRP), a grant program that offers financial help for hotels, restaurants and bars, will kick off on March 15. The program provides grants of up to $50,000 to businesses with fewer than 300 employees and a tangible net worth less than $15 million, our online story reported.

Dauphin County awarded gaming grants to over 80 local organizations this past week. Many Harrisburg organizations received money for building renovation and improvement projects. See the list of recipients in our online story.

Development projects in Midtown Harrisburg received zoning approvals on Monday night, moving them closer to construction, our reporting found. The city’s Zoning Hearing Board approved variances for an apartment building/community center and townhouses in the Capitol Heights neighborhood; an apartment building and parking garage on Reily Street; and the conversion of a dilapidated commercial structure to a small apartment building.

Our editor reflects on a year of COVID and the impact it has had on Harrisburg. He hopes TheBurg Magazine has provided an element of normalcy in very abnormal times.

HACC partnered with Dauphin County to offer its parking lot as a mass vaccination site, our reporting found. According to the county commissioners, the site will be used when more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine are available.

Sara Bozich has a list of fun activities for your weekend, just as the weather gets warmer. Check out her weekend recommendations, here.

Team Scott Inspire founders, James “Scottie” Scott and wife Rachelle, know that being an adolescent is hard, but being an adolescent who’s disadvantaged can be even harder. Five years ago, they started their nonprofit to assist these youth in need, our magazine story reported.

Todd Phillips won the Entrepreneur of the Year Award from the Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC in October. The Chamber recognized him for his business and for his dedication to mentoring youth. Our magazine article highlights Phillips and his barbershop, True Legends.

UPMC is offering the COVID-19 vaccinations to all elderly residents of Jackson Tower and Lick Tower, public housing buildings in Harrisburg. UPMC sees this as a way to assist an underserved community, our online story reported.

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Midtown Harrisburg projects get zoning approvals, inch closer to construction

February 23, 2021 | by Lawrance Binda

The “Carpets and Draperies” building was one of several projects that received zoning board approval on Monday night.

Several Midtown Harrisburg building projects took steps forward on Monday night, gaining key zoning approvals.

During a four-hour virtual meeting, the city Zoning Hearing Board voted unanimously to approve variances for an apartment building/community center and townhouses in the Capitol Heights neighborhood; an apartment building and parking garage on Reily Street; and the conversion of a dilapidated commercial structure to a small apartment building.

First, the board approved a variance for the “Carpets and Draperies” building on the 1500-block of N. 3^rd Street. A Midtown resident, Nate Foote, wants to convert the blighted, century-old structure to a five-unit apartment building, with commercial space on the ground floor.

Foote has a contract to purchase the 4,800-square-foot building from Schnecksville, Pa.-based Mussani & Matz Co., which has owned it since 2007. However, the purchase is contingent on getting the necessary approvals from the city.

At the meeting, Chuck Heller, a realtor for Camp Hill-based Landmark Commercial Realty, said the building has been on the market for about a decade, with many potentially interested buyers during that time. However, in the end, the building’s blighted condition and daunting rehabilitation costs have deterred offers.

“This is one of my longest listings,” he said. “It’s an amazing building, and there’s been a lot of interest in it, but, once you start digging into it, it’s usually squashed the transaction.”

Board Chair Tom Leonard said that the board had received numerous letters of support for the project from neighbors of the building.

“I think Nate has a great plan in place and will do a great job,” said Doug Neidich, CEO of GreenWorks Development, which owns several properties in the immediate area. “It will be a step forward for the whole Midtown area.”

The project has no off-street parking, but Foote has said that he would lease nearby spaces to satisfy the city’s parking requirement.

Secondly, the board approved a variance and a special exception for the Capitol Heights project, proposed by Harrisburg residents Chris and Erica Bryce, along with Matt Long of Harrisburg Commercial Interiors.

That project envisions building an 18,000-square-foot, three-story apartment building on the 1600-block of N. 3^rd Street. The building would have 12 market rate and affordable units with a 4,180-square-foot community center on the ground floor. The project also includes eight single-family townhomes with built-in garages at the rear of the site facing Logan Street.

The Capitol Heights project includes a new apartment building and community center (left).

Part of the site includes a longstanding community garden, which would be relocated to another part of the property.

“It’s certainly something that will benefit the community as a whole, and I look forward to seeing what you have in store,” said board member Shannon Gority, after she voted for approval.

Lastly, the board approved variances and special exceptions for a seven-story apartment building and parking garage at Reily and Fulton streets, located a block away from the new federal courthouse currently under construction.

This project, by entities called 400 Reily Street Management LLC and KevGar Holdco LLC, proposes an 85-unit apartment building and a 500-space parking garage, with first-floor retail space, which likely would house a grocery store, a restaurant and coffee shop, according to principal Kevin Baird.

The parking garage would serve both the courthouse and the Midtown community, Baird said.

“All roads led to the parking challenge in Midtown, and we all know how much that will be exacerbated by the opening of the federal courthouse in October 2022,” said Baird, describing the origins of the project.

A rendering of the proposed apartment building and parking garage on Reily Street.

Originally, the project included office space, but Baird said that he opted for more apartments because the residential market in Harrisburg is strong, while the office market is weak, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

One neighbor objected because, she said, the grocery store, in particular, could lead to parking congestion in the area.

“People are not going to go up into a garage to go to the grocery store,” said the Fulton Street resident. “If I’m just going in for a loaf of bread, I’m not going up into a garage.”

Baird said that shoppers likely would get some free parking time in the garage to encourage its use and that shoppers in other cities often use parking garages to access urban grocery stores.

Approved by the zoning board, each of these projects now needs to have their land development plans approved by City Council before they can begin construction.

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Midtown Harrisburg condo building, potential affordable housing project take steps forward

February 5, 2021 | by Lawrance Binda

An exterior rendering of the “The Lofts,” a proposed condo building in Harrisburg

A condo building and a potential affordable housing project in Midtown Harrisburg have both passed important milestones, receiving key zoning approvals from the city.

On Thursday night, the Zoning Hearing Board approved a variance and a special exception for a 16-unit condominium building that a local developer wants to build in the former Salvation Army building at Green and Cumberland streets.

The project, called “The Lofts” by Wormleysburg-based Integrated Development Partners, would include 16 for-sale, market-rate units in the 18,500-square foot building. The proposal includes a 32-space residential parking lot across the street, as well as a small parcel on Penn Street that would be used for guest parking.

“I have talked to several of the adjacent neighbors in the area about the project,” Jonathan Bowser, the company’s managing partner, told zoning board members. “Parking is probably the biggest concern. We do have the 32-parking-space lot on Green Street with which we plan to allot two parking spaces per unit for the 16 residential units that we are proposing.”

Previously, Bowser told TheBurg that his company hopes to break ground in the summer and finish the project in early 2022.

The building has been empty since late 2019, when the Salvation Army Harrisburg Capital City Region moved to a new facility on S. 29^th Street. The property has actually been on the market for several years.

With zoning approval, the project now needs to go through the land development approval process before both the city Planning Commission and City Council.

Near the end of the 3½-hour meeting, which was a continuation of the unfinished January meeting, the zoning board also approved a special exception that may lead to a new affordable housing project.

The Harrisburg Housing Authority received unanimous approval to subdivide its property on the 1300-block of N. 6^th Street. The HHA wants to split the site into three parcels, one for the existing Jackson and Lick apartment buildings and a third for a planned 50-unit building featuring one-, two- and three-bedroom units.

A rendering of the proposed North Sixth Street Lofts (foreground), along N. 6th Street in Harrisburg

Authority attorney Irwin Aronson explained that, when the two existing buildings were constructed in the early 1960s, the lots should have been subdivided but weren’t.

“For reasons as old as I am that I cannot identify, the two buildings were erected on a single lot,” he said. “No one took the time to subdivide them. In recent years, that has shown itself to be a mild impediment or problem for the Harrisburg Housing Authority.”

Aronson stressed that the proposed future development would not reduce existing parking for the cluster of buildings.

The subdivision now also must be approved by City Council. The building itself, tentatively called the “North Sixth Street Lofts,” eventually will need to go through the city’s land development approval process.

If the project is approved, the authority anticipates a yearlong construction period.

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The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

January 29, 2021 | by Lawrance Binda and Maddie Conley Gittens

Lou and Anna Vazquez recently opened Harry’s Bistro in Harrisburg.

Our February magazine came out just in time for a cold, possibly snowy weekend—the best time to cuddle up with some good reads, in our opinion. This issue is packed with inspiring stories of Harrisburg community members who faced tragedy during the pandemic and business owners thriving despite the odds. Don’t forget to catch up on this past week’s news, listed and linked below.

An apartment conversion for the former First United Methodist Church at 260 Boas St. received zoning approval on Tuesday, our online story reported. A tiny house community for veterans was also approved by the zoning board to be built on vacant land along the Susquehanna River.

B’hold Beauty opened in Steelton, adding to the area’s growing number of Black-owned businesses. Our magazine article tells owner Brittny Holder’s story and her mission to help people meet their hair goals.

CARES Act funding faced some criticism from the Harrisburg School District’s acting superintendent, who said that cyber charters are getting too much of the money, our web story reported. Commonwealth Charter Academy officials had the opposite view.

The Civic Club of Harrisburg experienced vandalism at the end of December, which caused around $13,000 in damage. Club President Marybeth Lehtimaki said that community members have already stepped up to help, our online story reported.

Dave Schankweiler virtually announced his run for Harrisburg mayor on Friday. He outlined his top agenda items, including decreasing violent crime, increasing accessibility within the administration and supporting the school district. Read our online story for more information on his platform.

Our Editor reflects on the holiday-filled month of February and looks forward to the promise of spring in his Editor’s Note.

Gloria Martin was our January Artist in Focus. Her paintings and illustrations often combine the realistic with the fanciful, with a dreamlike quality to many of her pieces.

The Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC hosted its annual Legislators’ Forum to allow local members of the PA General Assembly a chance to share their agendas and concerns. Many discussed the impacts of COVID on the Harrisburg area, our reporting found.

Harry’s Tavern lives on as father-daughter duo Lou and Anna Vazquez opened “Harry’s Bistro” in its memory. Lou, a past owner of the original tavern, hopes his new venture will be a fun, musically inspiring place for people to hang out, our online story reported.

The Historic Harrisburg Association unveiled its top five preservation priorities for the year, our online story reported. The list includes Balsley House, a dilapidated, double building located downtown; William Penn High School; Camp Curtin Memorial Mitchell UMC; Harrisburg State Hospital campus and Prospect Hill Cemetery Gate House.

“Ice in the Burg” will replace the city’s “Ice and Fire Festival,” still incorporating ice sculptures, but forgoing the traditional entertainment and vendors. Over 40 sculptures will be found around the city, our online story reported.

Sara Bozich has fun virtual events for what could be a snowy weekend at home. Check out her local listings, here.

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