Saying more documentation is needed, Luzerne County’s Redevelopment Authority board voted Tuesday to table a request to seek $1 million in casino gambling funding toward a public parking garage at the former Hotel Sterling site in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
The Wilkes-Barre Industrial Development Authority requested the application as part of a public/private partnership with the developer of a proposed Gateway Hyatt Place Hotel and Conference Center at the site on the corner of North River and West Market streets.
Requests for gambling Local Share Account, or LSA, funds must be submitted through certain entities, including redevelopment authorities and municipalities. The Commonwealth Finance Authority decides which applications are approved.
While applications seeking a share of locally-designated gambling funding are due Sept. 30, the parking garage request would be for a portion of statewide gambling funds that have a Nov. 30 submission deadline. This distinction is relevant because some board members said there is time to wait for additional applicant information without jeopardizing the submission.
Authority board member Mark Rabo said he wants data on public and private funds that will be spent on the project and a draft of the application. Board members Scott Linde, Stephen Phillips and Vincent Fayock also supported tabling, while board member John Pekarovsky was absent.
Stephen Barrouk, speaking on behalf of Gateway Associates, said the 150-vehicle parking garage will cost $3.8 million and is part of a partnership involving the city industrial development authority and H&N Investments LLC. H&N separately plans to construct a 110-room hotel/conference center at the site.
County Council had awarded $2 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to help build the parking garage earlier this year, which was $1 million less than requested.
In addition to supporting hotel needs, parking must be added in that city section to accommodate other residential structures and events at the county-owned River Common recreational complex located across the street along the Susquehanna River, Barrouk told the board. He cited several nearby former commercial buildings that have been converted for residential use with no parking, and the occupants’ ability to park for free at the Sterling lot will end when a hotel is constructed there.
A study concluded a 400-vehicle parkade is needed, and the scaled-back, proposed garage can be expanded upward in the future if funds become available, he said.
The authority board approved six LSA funding applications Tuesday.
Four are for the local gambling funding in which applications are due Sept. 30.
The Greater Wyoming Valley Area YMCA is seeking $800,000 toward construction of a new dining lodge with a commercial kitchen, locker rooms and restrooms at Camp Kresge in Dennison Township, which will boost efforts to expand food programs for children in the region.
The other three are for the redevelopment authority itself, which is seeking:
• $70,000 for equipment to mow authority-owned vacant lots and land near railroad and trails
• $250,000 to reconstruct the deteriorated railroad crossing on River Road in Jenkins Township
• $118,450 to replace four antiquated HVAC units at the authority’s office building on Luzerne Avenue in West Pittston
In the two statewide gambling applications, the YMCA is seeking an additional $300,000 toward the dining lodge project, while the redevelopment authority is duplicating its request for $250,000 for the Jenkins Township crossing in case the other request is unsuccessful.