Tag Archives: Strawberry Square

New Tenants Lined Up for Strawberry Square

October 21, 2015 | by Lawrance Binda

Strawberry Square at Market and N. 3rd streets in Harrisburg.

Two new tenants soon will land in Strawberry Square in Harrisburg, it was announced today.

Harristown Enterprises said it has completed lease deals with RGS Associates, a land planning, landscape architecture and civil engineering firm, and with Sellers Dorsey, which offers health care consulting.

RGS will move four employees into 2,500 square feet of space in December, with expectations that the number of workers will increase, said Brad Jones, president and CEO of Harristown, which owns Strawberry Square. Also in December, Sellers Dorsey will take about 5,000 square feet of space for 12 employees, with room to add personnel, Jones said.

In other developments in Strawberry Square:

The first of 900 workers with the state Department of General Services have begun moving into the former Verizon Tower, now renamed the Commonwealth Tower.
Verizon Wireless recently opened a retail and service store on the first floor of Strawberry Square.
Little Amps Coffee Roasters is expected to open its kiosk location on the first floor in November.
Also in November, construction is expected to begin on converting office space to 22 high-end apartments along N. 3rd and Market streets. To facilitate that project, Harristown has moved its own offices to the Lerner Tower above Auntie Anne’s Pretzels.

“People are coming into downtown and want to be here,” said Jones. “That’s good news for Harrisburg.”

August News Digest

August 31, 2015 | by Lawrance Binda

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 3^rd 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. 2^nd St., 1827: K. Dougherty to J. Reneker & A. Woodrow, $110,000
N. 2^nd St., 2135: Fannie Mae to PA Deals LLC, $45,000
N. 2^nd St., 2727: M. & J. Hobson to W. Stabler, $246,900
N. 3^rd St., 712: Grandkott Corp. & M. Granderson to MLP LLC, $126,000
N. 3^rd St., 1229: S. Johnsen to J. Geronimo, $126,000
N. 4^th St., 1905: K. Clifford to A. Adesubokan, $75,000
N. 5^th St., 3108: Secretary of Veterans Affairs to J. Charlton, $33,478
N. 6^th St., 3212: PA Deals LLC to V. & D. Poplaski, $100,000
N. 19^th 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. 20^th St., 19: M. Wolde & H. Andemapiam to W. Kharalah, $32,000
S. 25^th Street, 432: P. Bauer to D. Price, $106,000
S. 29^th 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.

Little Amps to Open in Strawberry Square

July 31, 2015 | by Lawrance Binda

Little Amps owner Aaron Carlson prepares coffee at the shop's location in downtown Harrisburg.

Little Amps owner Aaron Carlson prepares coffee at the shop’s downtown Harrisburg location on State Street.

Attention state workers–your high-quality caffeine fix is closer than ever as Little Amps Coffee Roasters soon will open in Strawberry Square.

“It’s a very unique Harrisburg brand, and we are excited to be part of that brand,” Jones said.

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.

A Seat in the Bard Room: Melissa Nicholson to helm international Shakespeare organization.

April 30, 2015 | by Lori M. Myers

Melissa Nicholson

You would think that Melissa Nicholson, executive director of Gamut Theatre Group, would be reciting Hamlet, Macbeth and Othello from the time she emerged from the womb; that the language of the Bard would roll off her tongue like honey and she’d be calling Elizabethan England her second home right from the start.

Think again.

“I had a terrible experience in high school with Shakespeare,” Nicholson recalls. “We read ‘Julius Caesar’ in ninth grade, and I hated it. I said ‘What is this?'”

But what a difference a few years and another Shakespeare play make. Nicholson attended Susquehanna University as a theater major, and the department performed a production of “Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Suddenly, it all made perfect sense.

“The director was great,” she says. “That production opened the doors for me.”

Nicholson went on to perform at The Lost Colony, an outdoors theater in North Carolina, before founding Gamut Theatre with husband, Clark. At the beginning, the couple was producing children’s shows as the Popcorn Hat Players, but, soon, a city official suggested that Harrisburg could use a dose or two of Shakespeare.

The duo complied, performing the Bard’s plays (including “Julius Caesar”) in any space they could find, including a former Midtown bank building that is now home to Historic Harrisburg Association.

Shakespeare is now a permanent part of the theatrical family in Gamut’s Strawberry Square space and will continue to be when the group moves to its new location across the way on N. 4^th Street.

But Nicholson’s reputation and love of Shakespeare has now gone beyond our city limits to the international stage. In January, she was appointed vice president of the Shakespeare Theatre Association, an organization established to provide a forum for the artistic, managerial and educational leadership for theaters primarily involved with the production of the works of William Shakespeare. The association discusses issues and methods of work, shares resources and information, and acts as an advocate for Shakespearean productions and training.

Nicholson will serve as vice president for two years and then two years as president beginning January 2017, allowing for not only continuity on the board, but also ensuring long-term institutional memory for the organization as she’ll be invited to executive committee meetings thereafter, according to Patrick Flick, executive director of the Shakespeare Theatre Association.

Flick views Nicholson as the perfect combination of keen businessperson and artist.

“Melissa is quick with a smile, a laugh and a kind word,” he says. “She is a consummate artist manager. This is a model that many regional theaters across the country use to run their theaters and Gamut/Harrisburg Shakespeare is a perfect example of this. Her politic and good-humored manner combined with years of experience running a theater make her the perfect person to be the vice president and consequently next president of Shakespeare Theatre Association.”

Despite the honor, the very busy Nicholson had some doubts if she could take on this added responsibility.

“Last year, people approached me about being vice president,” Nicholson says. “At first, I told them that I can’t do that; I’m in the middle of a capital campaign. But I realized that it’s good for Gamut and for Harrisburg to put us on the Shakespeare map.”

The association, formed in 1991, has had its meetings in different locales across the United States where various member theaters and individuals meet to discuss their needs and challenges and to offer help when necessary. This past January, the association met in San Francisco. Next year, it will get together at Shakespeare at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.; the following year in Baltimore.

Nicholson’s love of everything Shakespeare has grown and flourished since that initial dreaded encounter with Julius Caesar. She now pays it forward to children and teenagers through Gamut’s theater school and the Gamut Theatre Summer Academy, where new generations are performing the Bard’s plays. Nicholson says they are studying a language they’re not used to, but a language they begin to understand.

“It helps them express things not available in the modern vernacular,” Nicholson says. “But I don’t teach ninth graders ‘Julius Caesar.'”

To learn more about Gamut Theatre and contribute to its capital campaign, visit www.gamuttheatre.org.

TheBurg Podcast, April 3, 2015

April 3, 2015 | by Admin

Welcome to TheBurg Podcast, a weekly roundup of news in and around Harrisburg.

April 3, 2015: This week, Larry and Paul discuss the best-laid plans of mice and men and how they fared at the planning commission. Specifically, they talk about a proposal for a 160-foot office tower on the riverfront and the demolition of two historic clapboard houses on Locust Street, an exemption for a so-called “nanobrewery” and a switch in the downtown real estate market from commercial to residential.

Special thanks to Paul Cooley, who wrote our theme. You can listen to his podcast, the PRC Show, on SoundCloud or in the iTunes Store.

TheBurg Podcast can be downloaded by clicking on the date above or by visiting the iTunes store. You can also access the podcast via its host page, here.

Living Downtown: More Residential Planned for Harrisburg

April 2, 2015 | by Paul Barker

The upper floors of these historic buildings would be converted from office to residential under a proposal by Harristown.

Strawberry Square took the first step in a new direction last night, as the city Planning Commission gave its blessing to a proposed conversion of office space to residential units at the intersection of 3rd and Market streets downtown.

The plan would create six two-bedroom and 16 one-bedroom units on two floors above a stretch of shops along 3rd Street between Strawberry and Market and along Market near the corner with 3rd.

Under the proposal, 21,000 square feet currently used as office space would be converted to residential apartments, along with 6,000 square feet of loft space.

If all goes according to plan, work on the project would begin this fall with completion slated for spring 2016, said Brad Jones, president and CEO of Harristown Enterprises, which owns Strawberry Square.

City approval for the project was required almost as a technicality, as multi-family dwelling units are permitted by right in the downtown center zone. But the code requires a hearing on renovations exceeding 10,000 square feet and involving a change of use, city planners said.

The planning commission’s Vern McKissick noted that, in fact, the conversion would likely restore the property to a prior use, as the units above downtown shops were traditionally shop owners’ residences.

“It seems you’re actually going back to the past,” McKissick said.

Jones agreed, saying that several of the existing office units had fireplaces and natural light better suited to residential use. The plan would not alter the exterior of the buildings, he said.

Harristown’s project would be the latest to convert office to residential space downtown. Over the past year, WCI Partners, Brickbox Enterprises and Vartan Group all have created multi-family dwellings from timeworn downtown office buildings. In June, WCI will debut Walnut Court, a 21-unit apartment building that long housed a law firm at the corner of Walnut and Court streets.

Jones said that Harristown’s market research showed reduced demand for office space and increasing demand for residential units downtown. He also noted that additional parking would not be needed for any new residents, as the Strawberry Square complex has ample spaces available in its garage.

The working title for the apartments is “Flats at Strawberry Square,” Jones said. He said the new units are expected to rent for $800 to $1,300 per month.

A Dress Dream: A seamstress shop has evolved into an eclectic boutique at Leaf of Eve.

February 27, 2015 | by Stephanie Kalina-Metzger

As a teenager, Deborah String had a passion for sewing. And, despite her youth, she already had a goal in life—to open a dress shop.

“My business was named when I was a senior in high school,” she said. “I knew what I wanted to do.”

The name she had decided on was Leaf of Eve and, today, her little boutique carries an array of items from clothing to home décor, gifts, food products, jewelry, giftware, accessories and more.

To make her dream happen, String began as an apprentice to an Italian tailor named Francesco Sita. She made good use of those years, soaking in all she could learn. When she felt ready to make custom clothing for others, she began operating a business from her Harrisburg apartment.

People soon learned of String’s talent, primarily through word of mouth, although she did advertise at the VIP, the popular ‘80s club located in Harrisburg’s Strawberry Square.

“The VIP had big screens where they would flash photos and show pictures of the area,” she said. “I paid to have my model’s pictures up there, along with my logo. Everyone dressed up to go to the VIP.”

When String decided to move to a storefront on Enola’s main drag, Leaf of Eve was billed as a tailoring business.

“I started out with 1,000 square feet of sewing space and used half the building as storage,” she said.

About 14 years ago, she decided it was time to put the storage space to better use for retail sales.

“I began with embellished jackets, then started selling the slacks and skirts to go with them,” she said.

Buoyed by the reaction to the retail end of her business, String began to diversify, adding more items and traveling to wholesale clothing shows in New York and the Specialty Food Association’s Fancy Food shows to choose what to carry.

“I’m very eclectic and try to bring a variety of unique items to the area—things people don’t often see,” she said, mentioning stylish handbags from Passion, perfume and body lotion from Ireland-based Inis and a line of clothing from Clara Sunwoo.

String pointed out a colorful, flowing Sunwoo jumpsuit hanging on a mannequin in the corner of the shop.

“Kathy Lee [Gifford] wore that on her show the other week,” she said.

For food items, String rarely looks farther than her home state.

“I try to carry Pennsylvania food products,” she said, singling out Mechanicsburg-based Brittle Bark. “That was one of the first ones I picked up.”

Others products include Pepperelly, a pepper jelly made in Harrisburg, Asher’s chocolates from Souderton, and products from Bumbleberry Farms.

“That’s a women-owned business based in Somerset, and they make a variety of honey creams that are great on so many things, like toast, popcorn and cupcakes,” she explained.

Of course, String still does a steady tailoring business.

“When women come in for tailoring services, they are amazed at the selection of items for sale,” she said.

Chebonne Robison, who relocated to Delaware but often returns to visit, said Leaf of Eve is one of her routine stops.

“She carries different clothing that you can’t find anyplace else,” said Robinson, who recently purchased a raincoat from the shop and two bracelets for friends with February birthdays. “I like her jewelry, and I know if I see something that I think might fit me, Debby will guide me to the right size. So, it’s the personalized service I like, as well. Not many shops are like that.”

Sisters Tania and Abeer Srouji own Eye Candy, a Mechanicsburg-based jewelry and accessories business. They were so impressed with the boutique that they decided to pair up with String to sell their products there.

“I discovered her shop a couple years ago when a friend of mine recommended her seamstress services and was blown away—it was almost like a hidden secret,” said Tania. “When we choose where to sell our items, we try to find retailers that embody the same type of ethics we embrace. She tries to buy local and is very involved with the community.”

She also was impressed with the variety of items offered.

“She has a little bit of everything—items you don’t find at the big box stores,” she said. “That’s what makes her shop so special. She’s an entrepreneur with vision and fills her store with unique, fun stuff.”

String said she stays up to date with current trends by attending trade shows several times a year—which is something she likes.

“I enjoy selecting products that people will like and tailoring clothes that people will feel confident wearing,” she said with a smile. “And when brides come in and leave happy and give me hugs, that just makes me feel good.”

Leaf of Eve is located at 149 N. Enola Dr., Enola. For more information, call 717-732-2564 or visit www.leafofeveonline.com.

February News Digest

February 27, 2015 | by Admin

Mayor OKs Verizon Workout

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse last month signed off on an agreement to help the city avoid default on a $41.6 million bond tied to the so-called Verizon Tower—but did so reluctantly.

In 770-word open letter, Papenfuse blasted aspects of the deal with Assured Guaranty Municipal Corp. (AGM), attacking the amount of the city’s obligations under the agreement and saying that the state had pressured him to sign off on it.

However, not agreeing to the deal, which was approved by City Council in late January, would have been worse, he said.

The deal is the culmination of two years of negotiations to resolve an outstanding debt burden from a city-backed borrowing in 1998.

That year, the city sold three office towers in Strawberry Square to the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority, guaranteeing the bonds issued to finance the $24 million purchase.

One of the buildings, constituting about $7 million of the original debt, was secured by rent from Verizon, the primary tenant. However, no payments would have to be made on that bond until 2016, at which time the $7 million debt would balloon to $41.6 million. Furthermore, Verizon was set to depart the building in 2016.

Beyond tenant payments, the only security for the bonds was city tax revenues, meaning that the empty office building would leave Harrisburg on the hook for the full principal and interest on the original debt, totaling $41.6 million.

In September, the state Department of General Services agreed to a 17-year lease that will pay off a portion of the city’s obligation each year, for a total of around $11 million through 2033.

The settlement agreement the mayor signed off on helped clear the way for a $16 million retrofit of the building, which the state required as a condition of its lease.

City Fights Gun Suits

Harrisburg went to court last month to fight two lawsuits challenging the city’s gun control laws.

The city filed three motions in the Court of Common Pleas to battle two lawsuits filed in January by the McShane Law Firm. The motions seek to delay the lawsuits and disqualify McShane from the suit.

Those lawsuits were prompted by a recent state law passed last year that grants gun-rights membership groups standing to sue local governments over their firearms regulations.

As a result, many cities and towns have repealed their gun ordinances. Several others, however, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Lancaster and Harrisburg, have decided to fight back.

Harrisburg also established a “Protect Harrisburg” legal defense fund to help the city cope with the expense of the lawsuits. To contribute, visit www.harrisburgpa.gov/protectharrisburg.

Gaming Money Awarded

Dauphin County commissioners last month doled out $6.4 million in annual gaming grants for projects throughout the county.

Locally, grants included:

Harrisburg, $200,000 for four K9 patrol vehicles
Humane Society of Harrisburg Area, $120,000 for facility improvements
Swatara Township, $309,000 for a fire engine and other projects
Steelton, $70,866 for fire station repairs and to retire fire engine debt
Susquehanna Township, $202,000 for a pedestrian safety project and Vietnam Veterans memorial
Dauphin County Library System, $75,000 for HVAC improvements
Susquehanna Art Museum, $70,000 for a museum facility project
Gamut Theatre, $50,000 for renovation of its new facility (match required)
PA National Fire Museum, $50,000 for property acquisition
Camp Curtin YMCA, $75,000 for property improvements and sinkhole repair
Harrisburg River Rescue, $45,216 for facility improvements
Boys & Girls Club, $80,000 for facility expansion (match required)
Harrisburg Young Professionals, $75,000 for Market Square improvement project (match required)
Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg, $50,000 for security improvements

The grants originate from revenue generated by Hollywood Casino slot machines.

Mulder Square Proposed

Harrisburg has applied for a state grant to help revitalize a large swath of Allison Hill, an area the city is calling “Mulder Square.”

The Papenfuse administration last month submitted an application for a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant totaling $6.5 million. If received, the money would pay for a wide variety of projects, such as streetscape improvements, blight removal and redevelopment, said the city.

The term “Mulder” was developed by combining Mulberry and Derry, two of the principal streets in the targeted area.

Uber Launches in Harrisburg

Got a car? Then you might be able to go into business for yourself, as the Uber ride-sharing service launched last month in Harrisburg.

Company General Manager Jennifer Krusius joined Mayor Eric Papenfuse to announce the arrival of Uber, which uses a smartphone application to link drivers and riders.

The cost to use the service is a $2 base fare, then $1.75 per mile and 25 cents per minute.

Harrisburg is at the center of the area’s Uber territory, which runs west-to-east in a peanut-shaped design that goes from the western Carlisle suburbs in Cumberland County to Palmyra in Lebanon County.

Besides Harrisburg, the territory includes such places as Mechanicsburg, Camp Hill, Linglestown, Hummelstown and Hershey.

HUD Hearings Set

Harrisburg will hold three hearings this month to get public input to help develop a plan for the annual distribution of federal housing funds.

The first will take place March 5 at 5:30 p.m. at Harrisburg school district headquarters, 1601 State St. The second will be held on March 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Heinz-Menaker Senior Center, 1824 N. 4^th St., and the third will be on March 19 at 11:30 a.m. at HACC Midtown 2, 1500 N. 3^rd St.

The city expects to receive nearly $2 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds; $481,295 in Home Investment Partnerships money; and $160,887 in Emergency Solutions Grants funding.

TRAN Passed

Harrisburg City Council has approved a tax and revenue anticipation note (TRAN) in the amount of $4.5 million.

A TRAN is a form of short-term borrowing that municipalities often issue to cover lean revenue periods, allowing the city to pay its bills in the event of a cash shortfall until property taxes and revenues begin to roll in. In Harrisburg, for instance, cash flow often is weak until late March, when people begin to pay their city property taxes.

The TRAN will cost the city a $1,500 legal fee, but no commitment fee.

Last year, the council authorized a $2 million TRAN with a $10,000 commitment fee and a $5,000 legal fee. Ultimately, the city did not draw on the TRAN at all.

Riviera Razed

The city last month demolished the Riviera Hotel, a dilapidated bar and rooming house at the corner of 6^th and Kelker that rapidly deteriorated after a 2010 fire and recent series of collapses.

Dave Patton, codes administrator for the city, said the demolition work was bid out to Swatara Township-based Arney Brothers, Inc., for $24,549.

Patton also said the owners of the Riviera, Marion and Diana Nicklow of Hershey, have agreed in court to a plan to pay back the city for demolition costs.

The demolition concludes a troubled run for the century-plus-old Riviera, a three-story yellow brick building with faded, blue-gray paint on the window trim and the first-floor façade.

County property records show that the Nicklows purchased the building in March 1999 for $80,000. They filed for bankruptcy protection in 2009 after defaulting on a business line of credit for the Riviera and a mortgage on a separate property, according to court records.

The building was condemned in May 2010 following a fire, Patton said. Nonetheless, Patton said he recently discovered a homeless man living on the second floor, who had gained access via a fire escape.

Changing Hands

Berryhill St., 2110: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development et al to D. Murphy, $43,200

Chestnut St., 1722: M&T Bank to J. Palmer, $47,000

Derry St., 2426: J. Fleck to S. Rimal, $32,000

Fulton St., 1715: Secretary of Housing & Urban Development & Michaelson Connor & Boul to J. Leh, $60,000

Green St., 920: P. Wambach to C. Korinda, $126,000

Green St., 2015: WCI Partners LP to J. Blouch, $205,900

Green St., 2932: R. & E. Schwab to J.A. Hartzler, $65,000

Hale Ave., 421: R. Consoli to K. Nguyen & N. Ho, $69,900

Holly St., 1915: H. & K. Bey to E. & C. Smith, $73,000

Howard St., 1354: F. & L. String to NF String & Sons, $40,000

Industrial Rd., 4230: J. Niebauer Jr. to Cottage Real Estate LLC, $2,175,000

Luce St., 2365: R. & K. Stouffer to T. Nguyen & T. Mai, $37,500

Penn St., 1419: M. Rudy & M. English to N. Myers, $135,500

Reily St., 227: K. Kuss to R. Mundy, $166,000

Rolleston St., 1025: F. & E. Wonders to M. Jimenez & G. Abreu

Rose St., 925: S. & C. Hahn to D. Niles, $67,000

N. 2^nd St., 2229: Aurora Loan Services LLC to P. & C. Ambrose, $32,500

N. 3^rd St., 1219: C. Carson et al to T. Kelley, $70,000

N. 5^th St., 3006: J. Hudock Jr. to C. Stockard, $66,000

N. 17^th St., 98: Willow LLC to D&F Realty Holdings LP, $40,000

N. 18^th St., 911; 1644 Market St.; 629 Wiconisco St.; 2040 N. 4^th St.; 327 Peffer St.; 1831 Boas St.: Shokes Enterprises to JDP 2014 LLP, $433,000

Reily St., 227: K. Kuss to R. Mundy, $166,000

S. 13^th St., 932: South 13^th Street Properties LLC to Agree Limited Partnership, $1,783,000

S. 24^th St., 706: B. & C. Shadle to M. Cornelius, $38,000

S. 25^th St., 430: J. Wright to C. Munoz, $83,900

Verbeke St., 234: Centric Bank to J. Dixon, $120,000

Vineyard Rd., 218: R. & B. Seaton to S. & J. Clark, $199,000

Waldo St., 2641: P. Proctor to S. Clark, $30,000

A Picture of Government: If it’s Tuesday, this must be Harrisburg.

October 30, 2014 | by Lawrance Binda

Allegory of Good Government

On the second floor of the Old Palace in Florence, Italy, there’s a snug, sumptuous corner room where dazzling crystal chandeliers hang from the ceiling and centuries-old tapestries adorn the walls. Tuscan provincial officials hold their meetings there, and even the spectator seats—a long semicircle of mahogany desks, each with its own microphone have an air of elegance.

“Well, it’s not exactly like Harrisburg city hall, is it?” I joked while on a trip to Italy last month. Yes, both venues host the often-dull business of government. But one does so, after 700 years, in profound dignity and beauty. The other goes about its business in a leaky boat of a building that’s barely 30 years old.

And so (egads, I’m about to quote Britney Spears), I did it again.

I went somewhere, saw some stuff and compared it to Harrisburg.

In Florence, my wife and I visited the Central Market and thought about the Broad Street Market. We compared the gelato at Vivoli to that of Alvaro. We saw that Florentines keep their streets fixed and clean and lamented that Harrisburg couldn’t do the same (yes, I know, money).

The sight that had the greatest impact on me, however, came not in Florence, but during a day trip we took to Siena, a lovely walled city about 30 miles south of the Tuscan capital.

Like Florence, Siena long ago toggled between despotism and a type of nascent democracy. Today, the city is most proud of its centuries as a republic, and the grand, brown-brick city hall, the Palazzo Pubblico, built when most of Europe was mired in medieval gloom, is rightly its centerpiece.

After seven centuries, Siena still uses the palace as its municipal building, though half the enormous structure is now a museum, which is what the tourists get to see. This collection of rooms includes reception areas, a gorgeous chapel and a series of meeting rooms. For me, the highlight of the visit was a huge fresco entitled “An Allegory of Good and Bad Government” painted on opposing walls of the great Council Room.

One half of the fresco was designed as a symbolic story of good government. So, it shows a lively scene of happy people dancing and singing amidst a prosperous, peaceful city. The other half represents bad government—people impoverished, suffering, forced to pay tribute to a demonic tyrant.

These paintings were supposed to inspire the city’s nine council members as they made decisions in the room. It instructed them to be wise, to exercise power responsibly and to work for the common good. If they didn’t, all would suffer, the frescoes warn. And that’s, again, when I thought of Harrisburg.

Time Bombs

Harrisburg, of course, is no stranger to bad government. The city’s first receiver, David Unkovic, bluntly stated that the city had been misruled for 30 years, which, in my estimation, is no exaggeration.

However, looking up at the “Allegory of Bad Government,” I thought of two recent events, both of which happened as I was about to leave for my trip in late September. The first had its origins (as so many things in Harrisburg still do) in the Reed years. Former Mayor Steve Reed was a master of planting time bombs into the municipal budget, engineering noxious financial deals that coughed up some quick cash but committed the city to obligations it couldn’t afford over the long run. Recently, that unwelcome future arrived for one especially awful deal.

In 1998, Reed, as per usual, needed money. He opted for one of his classic tricks: “selling” a city asset to another city body, one that he controlled. So, the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority “bought” the Verizon Tower (and the land underneath it) in Strawberry Square for $23.6 million. To make the matter worse, the city guaranteed $6.9 million of the bonds used to make the purchase, meaning it would be on the hook if rents did not cover the bond payments.

Reed then arranged the deal so that no payments on the bonds would be made until 2016, by which time the $6.9 million sum would have ballooned to a massive debt bomb of $41.6 million.

He did so despite the fact that Verizon’s lease on the tower ended in 2016, the very year the first bond payments would be made (how crazy is that?). And, as Harrisburg’s usual bad luck would have it, Verizon did not renew its lease, placing the city, once more, in financial peril. So, a month ago, the state again swooped in to save the desperate city from itself, scoring some cheap, much-needed office space in the process.

The state now will relocate 900 workers from the State Hospital grounds, which it’s putting on the market. The 17-year lease won’t even cover all of the building’s debt payments. After expenses, Harrisburg will still be on the hook for about $750,000 a year. In addition, after the lease’s expiration, the state will have the option to buy the entire building for a mere $4 million, which, if exercised, would make the deal less a lease than a rent-to-own.

Financial recklessness. Wishful thinking. Disregard for the future. This is bad government defined. And this was just one of Reed’s many financial schemes.

Versus Midtown

As I stared up at “Bad Government,” a second recent issue came to mind, one less financially consequential, but pernicious in its own ugly way.

Just as I left for vacation, two council members decided to use a hearing on the future of the Broad Street Market to give into rumors and spread untruths that can do nothing but further divide the people of this still-fragile city.

Among the assertions: The Broad Street Market Task Force planned to change the name of the market to include the word “Midtown”; there is no historic neighborhood called Midtown; there are no families in Midtown; there are no “generational kids” in Midtown.

All are false. I live on the fringe of historic Midtown and, just on my block, there are numerous families—black, white, straight, gay—tons of kids and several families that span generations. Not that these distinctions should matter to at-large council members who are legally and morally bound to represent all Harrisburg citizens, of every race and class, whether their roots go back a year or 100.

The Midtown pile-on also revealed an unsettling bias among some elected officials against their own constituents. They took an initial falsehood (that the market name would change) then used that to string together more untruths, all directed against the people of the sprawling, still-struggling, neighborhood of Midtown.

Harrisburg has a choice. Largely freed from Reed’s fiscal fun house, the city can come together to rebuild itself into a more welcoming, friendly and desirable place for residents, businesses and visitors. Or, like some medieval Italian city-state, it can sink into infighting,factions, bitterness and provincialism.

Anyone up for frescoing city hall?

Lawrance Binda is editor-in-chief of TheBurg.

State To Rent in Downtown Verizon Tower, Helping Relieve Unfunded City Debt

September 19, 2014 | by Paul Barker

The so-called Verizon Tower in downtown Harrisburg, which the phone company plans to vacate in early 2016.

The state Department of General Services signed off this week on a 17-year lease of office space in downtown Harrisburg, in a deal that is expected to relieve the city of most of the $41.6 million in debt obligations associated with the facility, state officials confirmed Friday.

The office space, in the so-called Verizon Tower in Strawberry Square, threatened to become vacant upon the expiration of the phone company’s lease in early 2016, leaving the city on the hook for payments on the bonds issued to acquire the building.

The new lease, between DGS and the Harristown Development Corporation, the developer of Strawberry Square, is for a base amount of $65 million over the 17-year term, said Troy Thompson, a DGS spokesman.

That amount will rent office space for close to 900 workers to be relocated from what is known as the DGS Annex, an office complex occupying the grounds of the former state hospital above Cameron Street, Thompson said. Among the state workers to be relocated are employees from the Department of Public Welfare, the Department of Transportation, the state police and DGS itself, he said.

Though DGS signed the documents yesterday, the lease still requires the signature of the attorney general’s office to be fully executed. Thompson said Friday he did not know when the AG’s signature was expected. A spokesman for the state Board of Commissioners of Public Grounds and Buildings confirmed Friday that the board had approved the lease, pending the AG’s approval.

Steve Goldfield, a financial advisor who worked on the lease negotiations, said on Thursday that the rental agreement was made possible in part by the city’s parking deal last fall, which served as the keystone of the state-sponsored plan to resolve Harrisburg’s historic debt crisis.

“The state doesn’t usually do this, because parking usually kills the deal,” Goldfield said of the commonwealth’s decision to move workers downtown. But, after factoring in savings from a discounted parking contract that DGS signed as part of the recovery plan last fall, the state stands to save significantly on the office rentals, Goldfield said.

That contract, a 30-year agreement to lease 4,306 parking spaces in the downtown parking system, was a critical component of the recovery plan’s parking deal, a long-term lease of city parking assets that Goldfield also worked closely on as an advisor to Harrisburg’s state-appointed receiver.

Under the contract, the state agreed to pay an increasing amount per month for each space, starting at $130 per month early this year and climbing to $180 per month in 2016. But the contract also includes the automatic addition of 765 spaces by 2016, of which 344 will be rented at a discounted rate of $100 per month.

Those rates, according to Goldfield, helped achieve the savings realized in the DGS lease, which he estimated at around $1.6 million per year. Other factors in the cost savings are the rental price itself as well as a guaranteed energy savings contract that will accompany the lease, he said.

The current cost of housing employees at the DGS Annex is around $6.3 million per year, according to Thompson, the DGS spokesman.

Thompson described the DGS lease Friday as “mutually beneficial” for the state and the city, noting that, in addition to saving tax dollars on office rental costs, the lease also moves the state closer to being able to sell the old state hospital grounds.

Harrisburg is exposed to the office building’s debt because of how its acquisition was financed. In 1998, the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority issued $23.6 million in revenue bonds to fund the purchase from the city of land and facilities in Strawberry Square.

Of these, $6.9 million, the Series A bonds of 1998, were to be repaid solely with rents paid for office space in the building. But the city also guaranteed the debt, such that if rents were insufficient to cover debt service, the city would be obligated to make up the difference.

Debt service on the Series A bonds starts coming due in the fall of 2016, with an initial payment of $930,000. The semiannual payments climb thereafter, from a total of $1,880,000 due in 2017 to $2,320,000 due in 2032. A final payment of $6,175,000 must be made on Nov. 1, 2033.

With the departure of Verizon, whose lease expires on Feb. 28, 2016, the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority would have no way to meet the debt service, and the city would be left holding the bag for $41.6 million, Goldfield said.

After operating costs and other expenses are taken out, rent paid under the DGS lease will not provide total coverage of the debt obligation, Goldfield acknowledged. Those expenses include about $1 million per year in real estate taxes, $900,000 per year in utilities and $800,000 per year in common-space charges applied to occupants in Strawberry Square, according to Neal West, senior vice president and legal counsel for Harristown Development Corporation.

These costs leave about $750,000 per year for debt service under the DGS lease, West said. When asked why, even with its offices full, the building could not adequately cover debts as anticipated in the 1998 bond issue, West said he could not speculate about the calculations made at the time. He did observe, however, that the downtown real estate market had remained essentially flat since the late 90s, whereas the bond financing may have rested on the assumption it would grow.

Goldfield also noted Thursday that the DGS lease includes an option to purchase the building at the end of the term, at a price of around $4 million. If the state exercises the option, he said, the deal would bring the city’s total exposure down below $10 million. The debt can then be refinanced, in part through negotiations with Assured Guaranty, which insured the 1998 bonds, he said.

A 2012 report by the Patriot News described the city’s use of proceeds from the 1998 sale as follows: $10.3 million was used to repay hotel bonds previously issued by HRA; $4.7 million was placed in a “capital projects fund” for projects across the city; and $501,861 was used to repay bonds from the Harrisburg Leasing Authority.

The city’s then-finance director, Robert Kroboth, could not account for how the remaining $4.7 million in proceeds was spent, according to the report.

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