[EastSideHBG]

New office complex to tie in with college

Thursday, January 25, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The midtown campus of Harrisburg Area Community College won't open until late this year, but it's already spawning development in the area.

A 65,000-square-foot office and retail complex proposed at North Third and Reily streets was hailed yesterday as a direct result of the HACC expansion.

Developer Thomas Powers of Powers & Associates in Harrisburg said first-floor retail space in the $11 million building would be tailored to serve HACC students with amenities such as cafes, sandwich and pizza shops, a gym and day-care businesses.

The three upper floors of the building, to be known as Campus Square, would be devoted to office space.

"Demand is very strong right now, and we expect to be fully occupied in a very short period of time," added Doug Neidich, chairman of Powers & Associates. "We are confident this area of midtown will grow significantly in the coming years."

The property at 1426 N. Third St. is the site of the former Baker Garage, which would be razed. It is directly across Reily Street from the former Evangelical Press building, which is being renovated by Powers & Associates to become part of the new HACC campus. That 125,000-square-foot project is to become the center for HACC's building and trade programs. It is expected to bring more than 2,500 students to midtown each day beginning next fall.

In addition, several residential construction projects are under way in the area, including Capitol Heights, Marketplace, Olde Uptown and Governor's Square.

"The midtown corridor is quickly becoming Harrisburg's new hot spot for retail, commercial and residential development," Mayor Stephen R. Reed said.

Powers said demolition work should begin within the next two months, and Campus Square is expected to be completed by the summer of 2008.

[EastSideHBG]

HARRISBURG UNDER CONSTRUCTION

BOOMTOWN

Developers cash in on city's fertile ground

Friday, January 26, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

A university tower, a community college annex, a riverside condo building, two hotels, three office buildings and scores of residential units.

It all adds up to what some are calling a historic building boom in Harrisburg.

"We are entering a new high in terms of economic development, no question about it," Mayor Stephen R. Reed said. "The volume is at the highest level in over 50 years. This is the highest level since the pre-World War II period in Harrisburg."

But what's driving all that growth?

City officials and real estate developers said the reasons are numerous.

First, there are some trends that seem to be working in favor of midsized cities like Harrisburg.

Baby boomers looking to reduce their living space but improve their amenities, entertainment and enjoyment are eyeing urban town houses and condos.

This was a motivation for a $20 million project to develop the Tracy Mansion on the 1800 block of North Front Street into a restaurant and up to 40 condos, with units starting at $300,000.

"I think the trend of people rediscovering their cities, wanting to be part of their cities and invest in their cities will continue," said J. Alex Hartzler, who is behind two city projects -- a hotel at Second and State streets and an 85-home residential project in midtown.

Hartzler started out rehabilitating town houses one at a time in the late 1990s and watched as the market grew.

"We have been doing residential rehab work in the city for several years and know there is a strong market for modern homes in historic neighborhoods," he said. "The homes we have completed to date sell very quickly, so we know the buyers are out there."

Spinoff benefits:

For Reed, the success is the result of decades of work that has reached critical mass and is feeding from its own momentum -- often with private leadership and financing in the forefront.

When Reed began trying to resuscitate the city in 1982, trying to advance any project was like pushing a boulder up a mountain, he said.

Reed said he's finally reached the top and the rock is rolling downhill.

Among the current spate of projects, spinoff effects can be seen.

For example, it is less likely that two hotels would be proposed for opposite ends of the 200 block of State Street if it weren't for the nearby South Street parking garage.

Both hotels -- the Starwood Aloft on North Second Street and the Cosmopolitan in the existing Barto building on North Third Street -- have contracts with the 750-space city garage, and it's not finished yet.

The hotels' proximity to Restaurant Row, the city's strip of nightclubs, restaurants and bars, is expected to create more opportunities. Also, it sure doesn't hurt that the Capitol is right across Third Street.

Likewise, a 65,000-square-foot office and retail complex announced this week for North Third and Reily streets was hailed as a result of the adjacent expansion of Harrisburg Area Community College's midtown campus.

Developer Thomas Powers, of Powers & Associates in Harrisburg, said the $11 million building's first-floor retail space would support and serve HACC students, and the three stories of office space above might be tied-in with the technology and trade programs HACC will teach next door.

City officials and business leaders are pinning their hopes on Harrisburg University's planned downtown tower to be the next Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, Restaurant Row, Strawberry Square or Hilton Harrisburg in terms of its spinoff benefits.

The transformative power of the $73 million, 16-story academic center at Fourth and Market streets lies with the students and staff it will lure downtown, officials said. The tower is to be connected to Strawberry Square and feature street-level retail of its own.

Development overdrive:

Harrisburg has hit development overdrive at the same time the city's been beset by budget problems.

Last fall, Harrisburg faced a $13.8 million budget deficit, forcing layoffs, borrowing and tax increases.

Yet, Harrisburg continues to draw investment from developers familiar with the city, as well as those taking a risk for the first time.

Developers such as Hartzler, Powers and Vartan Enterprises all have projects in the current boom.

By contrast, Jules Patt gained a reputation building shopping centers and hotels all over the mid-Atlantic region, but never in Harrisburg. Yet, the Hollidaysburg developer said he couldn't resist the city he visited and loved as a boy as the site of his hotel planned at Third and State streets.

"We are very excited about coming to Harrisburg," he said. "Our capital city is well-positioned for extensive future growth."

In fact, all the development should help the city, replenishing its coffers with fresh tax revenues.

"I've always said, 'we need more people living in Harrisburg,'" said Hartzler, who's gauging the success of residential projects as the key to a lasting city development boom.

"That will be people voting with their feet, to come here and live here," Hartzler said. "If that is sustained, I think you will see Harrisburg take things to the next level."

Reed said there's plenty more growth in store, such as a $100 million project for a federal courthouse. The Department of General Services has relaunched its site search and might announce a list of alternatives soon.

[EastSideHBG]

My response on another forum, thought I would share here too:


This is all great news, but Harrisburg needs some new residential buildings downtown for sure.

And not trying to be negative here because any development is great for HBG, but is any of this stuff really *that* worthwhile? HACC's new campus is great because it will bring people into Midtown, but I never quite understood this concept because if you go down a "few" blocks, what do you have? HACC's main campus. :???: It's too bad HBG couldn't have lured something else because it could be known as a college town in a sense with HACC, Sci-Tech, and whatever other school all within its limits.

My question will always remain: what about the entertainment, the shopping, etc., to go with all of these projects? It can be argued that this will bring those but I have yet to see that happen in HBG. Harrisburg has always been very heavy on the commerce side of things, and that is what makes it so drab IMO. Unemployment is really low and so is the cost of living, and that is definitely one thing I enjoyed about the place. But being bored to tears week after week got really old, and I know for a fact this is why many people leave the area. "It's only what you make it..." can only go but so far when you have limited options. Until the day comes when I stop hearing people say, "HBG is great because of the location and I can spend most of my time in other cities," I won't be satisfied.

Harrisburg has A LOT of potential in this dept. and I wish someone would step up to the plate and do something grand. The Superclub (LOL) site would've been great for a Station Square, Penns Landing, Harbor Place, etc., type of development. Instead, we get another sub-par office complex...

[EastSideHBG]

LOL here we go again! On the bright side, it looks as if the GSA is FINALLY listening to reason and looking at sites in the Northern and Southern Gateway projects.


Ten Possible Sites for New Federal Courthouse

Tuesday January 30, 2007

Harrisburg - The U.S. General Services Administration is moving forward in the site selection process for a new federal courthouse in Harrisburg, and has released a list of 10 possible locations. The sites were narrowed down from a list of 30 to 40 locations GSA was considering in December.

Last year, GSA had picked three possible sites for the new federal courthouse, and announced the Cumberland Court Apartments at North 6th and Verbeke Streets was its preferred location. In October however, GSA decided it did not want to relocate the 100 low-income families who live at Cumberland Court, and began the search for a site all over again.

The new list of possible sites include:

- South Front and Sycamore Street
- Eastern corner of 2nd and Paxton Streets
- Western corner of 2nd and Paxton Streets
- North 6th and Reily Streets
- Maclay and Cameron Streets
- Scottish Rite Cathedral, North 3rd and Wiconisco Streets
- 3rd and Pine Streets
- 2nd and Locust Streets
- 7th and Boas Streets
- Dauphin County Administration Building, 2nd and Market Streets

GSA will hold an open house where the public can learn more about the federal courthouse project and the site selection process. The meeting will be held February 21st from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at 23 South Second Street in Harrisburg, in Ballrooms A and B.

Questions, comments, and suggestions regarding the new courthouse can be sent to:

U.S. General Services Administration
Attention: Abby Low, Project Manager
20 N. 8th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107
Email: HarrisburgCourthouse@gas.gov

[EastSideHBG]

Harrisburg is so ghetto! LOL This is the second time in a few years something like this has happened! :laugh:


HARRISBURG

Council members cited after sparring

Council members spar after meeting
Thursday, February 01, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg City Council committee meetings are typically dry affairs in which members plunge into the minutiae of proposed laws and pending actions.

But Tuesday night's administrative committee session to interview seven prospective members for the Harrisburg Authority ended not with bills bound for passage, but with two council members cited with summary harassment offenses.

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1170301203311860.xml&coll=1

*************

BISHOP McDEVITT'S FUTURE

Leaving town?

Diocese begins search for potential relocation sites

Thursday, February 01, 2007
BY DIANA FISHLOCK, JUDITH PATTON, MARY WARNER AND MARY KLAUS
Of The Patriot-News

The prospect of Bishop McDevitt High School leaving its historic Harrisburg location looms closer today as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg searches for 50-acre sites to which it might relocate the school.

All options remain open, including staying at 2200 Market St., until the diocese knows what land is available and how much money it could raise, Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades said yesterday.

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/11703021119400.xml&coll=1

[EastSideHBG]

HARRISBURG

Reed touts 5 of 10 sites eyed for federal courthouse

Thursday, February 01, 2007
BY MARY KLAUS
Of The Patriot-News

When federal officials chose Cumberland Court apartments in 2004 as the site for a new federal courthouse, Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed opposed uprooting more than 100 low-income families.

The General Services Administration subsequently decided not to build there.

This week, the GSA proposed 10 nonresidential sites, and Reed found half of them acceptable.

The GSA plans to replace the federal courthouse at Walnut and Locust streets by 2012, largely to meet security requirements. The new courthouse is expected to be six to 14 stories high and have eight courtrooms.

Reed said two proposed sites at Second and Paxton streets, near Interstate 83 exit ramps, could "jump-start the southern gateway [revitalization] project." Those sites are 2.2 acres and 4.3 acres, respectively.

He also spoke favorably of a 2-acre site at the northwest corner of Seventh and Boas streets occupied by an M&T Bank branch and the Penn State Harrisburg Eastgate campus; a vacant 2.4-acre site at the northeast corner of North Sixth and Reily streets, across from Bethesda Mission; and the 4.1-acre site of the Scottish Rite Cathedral at North Third and Wiconisco streets

"All of these areas are largely empty," Reed said. "If a courthouse is built in one of those areas, it could induce major economic development. The tax money lost from most of these sites would be very small. Some are tax-exempt, like the PinnacleHealth parking lot at Second and Paxton streets."

The mayor said he "vigorously opposes any effort of the federal government to dislocate a slew of businesses and residences and take their tax-based property."

Reed said one proposed location, the site occupied by the Dauphin County Administration Building at South Second and Market streets, would not be economically sound because the county spent $17 million to renovate the former Mellon Bank building. That amount would have to be reimbursed, he said.

"I don't put much stock in the other sites either," he said. Those are the southeast corner of North Second and Locust streets, the Payne-Shoemaker building at Third and Pine streets, South Front and Sycamore streets, and the southwest corner of Maclay and Cameron streets.

[klingy04]

Check out this website. Thought it was pretty interesting. I'll be anxious to see if this happens. It would be more good news for midtown.

www.harrisburgarts.com

[EastSideHBG]

Only in America is sprawl referred to as "first class". ;)


SWATARA TWP.

Building boom shakes up township
Construction at mall, TecPort center revitalizes area, officials say

Monday, February 05, 2007
BY MARY KLAUS
Of The Patriot-News

One's for business. One's for pleasure.

TecPort Phase Three and the Great Escape Theatre complex under construction along Route 441 in Swatara Twp. have been catching the attention of commuters each night.

"Both of these developments are bringing a lot of life to that area," said Larry Bekelja, president of the Swatara Twp. commissioners. "They're first class."
Advertisement


The Great Escape Theatre, which will have 14 screens and is expected to open in November, is part of the second round of renovations at the Harrisburg Mall.

TecPort Phase Three, the final phase of the TecPort Business Center 3, includes construction of seven office buildings on a 33-acre part of the complex bordered by Chambers Hill Road and Route 441. The TecPort Business Center, developed by Crossgates Inc., is a 102-acre business park on the former AMP Inc. property.

The main "building boom" for the third phase will begin in the spring, said Diane E. Voda, Crossgates' vice president. The company has begun construction of the main road for the section, called Portview Drive.

"Sixty percent of the lots already have been sold," she said, adding that the buildings will contain offices and a beauty school. "We're finishing the road and the sewer and storm water facilities first."

The third phase will also include a walking trail connected to the Harrisburg Greenbelt and other trails in the business park, she said.

TecPort's first two phases include Capital BlueCross, Commerce Bank, Computer Aid, Crossgates Inc., K&W Engineers/Consultants, Masco Construction Inc., GTECH Corp., Faulkner Nissan, Health America, the Trane Co., the U-Grow Learning Center, the Homewood Suites, Sheetz and several restaurants.

The Hilton Garden Inn, under construction in TecPort Phase Two just south of Homewood Suites, is expected to open in the spring.

Swatara Twp. administrator Paul Cornell and Bekelja praised Crossgates for creating "a huge success story" in the township.

"When AMP pulled out, it took 2,500 jobs," Cornell said. "Crossgates came here with a vision and created TecPort. Now, we have 3,600 jobs here and will have closer to 5,000 when this third phase is done. It's a wonderful development."

Bekelja credited TecPort with "starting a development boom in that area."

"After AMP and Tyco and before TecPort, that area was a green field," Bekelja said. "When TecPort started, it brought back life to the mall, too, even though they're not related. Now, Swatara Twp. is moving in the right direction."

The Great Escape Theatre, being built along the Route 441 side of the mall between Macy's and Boscov's, "will be more than just a place to see a movie," said Larry Feldman, chairman and CEO of Harrisburg Mall owner Feldman Mall Properties Inc.

In July, officials broke ground for the theater complex, which will add 60,000 square feet to the mall. Three weeks later, construction began.

The theater is being built on 80 concrete and steel piers so the mall can keep its 4,300 parking spaces.

The 14 theaters, ranging from 90 to 450 seats, will have stadium seating, rocking high-back chairs and love seats, wall-to-wall screens, digital projection systems and surround sound, high ceilings, marble floors and plush drapes, said Mark Nobile, the Harrisburg Mall's manager.

Feldman said that the theater "will be the only one of its kind in 100 miles."

"It will be part of our entertainment zone at the mall, which, we hope, creates the feeling of a town center," Feldman said. "Shoppers who have given up on this mall and left should come back and see what we've done."

[wrightchr]

^ it's not traditional sprawl Dave...in any sense of the word. but I see your point. I think what is going on at TecPort and the Harrisburg Mall is great...turning largely vacant undeveloped land and a depressing mall into economic boosters for the region. This is infill development at it's best IMO. what you see happening just a couple miles away across I-283 is a completely different story.

on another note, i'm really impressed with the GSA's site selection. they really have a few great possibilities here. personally, i'm hoping for something DT, near or inside the southern gateway.

[Austinlee]

Are there any plans for residential mid rises or high rises in downtown Harrisburg anytime soon? If not, do you think eventually DT will start to build up instead of out? I just wonder how long it will be until Pennsylvania's capital city begins to look more like a large, multi-industry city as opposed to the relatively large metro but small feeling city that it has been.

[wrightchr]

Are there any plans for residential mid rises or high rises in downtown Harrisburg anytime soon? If not, do you think eventually DT will start to build up instead of out? I just wonder how long it will be until Pennsylvania's capital city begins to look more like a large, multi-industry city as opposed to the relatively large metro but small feeling city that it has been.

if you really examine Harrisburg, you will notice that center city has nearly 30high-rise (12 floors or more) buildings and double the amount of considerable mid-low rise buildings...over 10 million sq. ft. of commercial office space....and a daytime working population of 250,000. the city proper has been at "built out" stage for nearly a century now. i think that's why we are really seeing new upward development within the last 10 years or so. this trend will definately continue...(just look at what's occuring in midtown, for example). the new federal building/courthouse and the new university DT will definately make an impact as well. the lifting of height restrictions along front street and in portions of DT are allowing for the construction of at least one new mid-rise condo development and two new high-rise hotel franchises. more residential units will follow.

personally, i think the metro is growing leaps and bounds and it will only worsen as sprawl from Philly, Lancaster County, and northern MD/Baltimore areas creep further into our region. as for the city...it's definately a small city with a big city atmoshere. other cities like Allentown and Erie, which are more than twice Harrisburg's population, are really just glorified suburban municipalities with considerably small urban centers. Harrisburg is exactly the opposite. the city and region resemble areas much larger and the metro area acts like a magnet to Harrisburg...feeding off it's central business district, it's nightlife, and culture.

[wrightchr]

double post

[EastSideHBG]

^ it's not traditional sprawl Dave...in any sense of the word.
How do you figure that, Chris? Low-rise office buildings facing every which way with huge parking lots between them, a Ruby Tuesday's here, another restaurant there, a huge car lot...it's the epitome of sprawl in America. Have I seen worse? Absolutely, but I've seen MUCH better too.

I'm not knocking TecPort at all and it is a great thing, just calling it what it is.


In other news, it's nice to see that all of the corruption in that town is finally being exposed! But if this is true, it will be yet another black eye for the city. My theory is that once they start digging, they will find a few ties to the City Admin. and/or the Mayor; it's no coincidence to me that this is alleged during a time when the city was in financial crisis...


Sources: Police under probe

U.S. believed to focus on city moonlighting

Tuesday, February 06, 2007
BY TOM BOWMAN AND PETE SHELLEM
Of The Patriot-News

A federal grand jury is investigating whether Harrisburg police officers overbilled the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for providing security at a public housing complex, sources familiar with the investigation said yesterday.

At issue, one source said, is whether officers were double dipping, or billing the federal government for working at Harrisburg Park Apartments in the 1400 block of South 15th Street during hours when they worked for the police department.

Other officers are said to have requested pay for working at the apartment complex when they never showed up for work there, according to the sources.

Sources said FBI agents interviewed at least a half dozen officers in the past several weeks at police headquarters and issued grand jury subpoenas to some of them.

The officers were assigned to work at Harrisburg Park Apartments during off-duty hours, sources said. HUD pays for the officers' services, but the pay is distributed through the police department's payroll.

Police officers are routinely hired by HUD to patrol the federally subsidized rental units when they are not working for the city police department, a source said.

Harrisburg Police Chief Charles Kellar said he has not been served with any documents and did not know how many officers had been ordered to testify.

The chief said he did not know details about the investigation.

"That I don't know, because it's being run through the Department of Justice," Kellar said. "I'm cooperating with them, but I'm not allowed to speak, except to the grand jury."

It is unclear whether the grand jury is looking at police department practices or individual officers.

Kellar said he would ask his contact in the Department of Justice, Dan Ellis, to call reporters with information about the investigation. About 15 minutes later, Keller called back to say that Ellis is not allowed to talk about the probe.

The subpoenas came from the U.S. attorney's office in Harrisburg, a source said.

"I have no information on it," said attorney's office spokeswoman Heidi Havens. "And if it is anything that's under investigation, I can't comment on it."

Federal grand jury proceedings are secret. They usually indicate an investigation has progressed beyond an initial inquiry and are sometimes used to gain information from uncooperative witnesses.

Grand juries can issue indictments against people accused of violating the law.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed did not return calls and an e-mail seeking comment yesterday.

[danwxman]

Two Harrisburg proposals meet contrasting receptions
By John Luciew
Of The Patriot-News


One project would offer owners of its $300,000 to $500,000 residential units the option of having dinner delivered from an on-site gourmet restaurant.

The other would afford some shelter to men, women and children as they wait in a soup line, rather than force them to stand in the elements as they do now.

Both projects — a $20 million luxury condo building for Harrisburg’s Front Street and a 20,000-square-foot expansion of the Bethesda Mission homeless shelter in midtown — were unveiled last night before the Harrisburg Planning Commission.

The response to the polar-opposite plans was a study in contrasts.

Commission members lauded the sketch plans and design concepts that Susquehanna Real Estate Inc. has developed to convert the Tracy Mansion at 1829 N Front Street into a restaurant and build a 38-unit, six-story condominium next to it.

Developer Jack Kay told of sculpture gardens, manicured landscapes and 2,000-square-foot residences replete with dens, gourmet kitchens, river views and balconies and decks.

“Our goal is to create a very distinctive residential location,” Kay said, adding that construction could be under way by fall. “It’s a lifestyle choice that is not on the [Harrisburg] market right now.”

And while the company’s plans were preliminary and the planning commission did not take a formal vote, several members weighed it with rave reviews.

“It’s a splendid concept,” said member Ronnie G. Shaffer. “We are anxious to see the formal plan.”

The board was much less eager when it came to Bethesda’s project.

The Christian-based homeless shelter at Sixth and Reily streets wants to expand to the east, having bought and demolished a former motel at Seventh and Reily.

The site would be home to a two-story dining, education and programming center, but it would not increase Bethesda’s 84-bed shelter capacity, mission officials said.

Bryan Yesilonis, Bethesda’s executive director, and David Balinski, a board member, told of cramped quarters at the current site. Men congregate on the 100-year-old facility’s porch and people wait outside in the soup line.

“It’s a major qualitative increase in our program,” Yesilonis said. “We’re not increasing the size of our program, in terms of numbers of people, but we are greatly enhancing our services. Right now, you see moms and kids line up along Reily Street in the soup line.”

Yesilonis said the plans for the new space include a larger dining room, an employment center to school the homeless on job application and interview techniques, as well as an education center where certified teachers would help them earn GEDs.

But noting that controversy greeted Bethesda’s past plans for expansion, planning commission members talked of formally capping the number of residents and directed mission officials to survey the growing neighborhoods on surrounding blocks for support.

“We have so many of these programs, it becomes a struggle for us,” said member Vern McKissick. “I haven’t heard about Camp Hill’s Bethesda Branch, or Penbrook’s Bethesda Branch.”

The board voted to continue Bethesda’s application until next month, and Yesilonis vowed to hold a community open house on the mission’s plans.

“We want our neighbors to be comfortable with us, so we’re going to invite them in,” he said.

[danwxman]

MIDTOWN RENAISSANCE?
Empty Police Athletic League building may be reborn as arts center
Thursday, February 08, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg's midtown could get an arts center that would combine paintings, plays and films with art shops, supplies, studios, and even a swimming pool and bathhouse.

The $1 million project, which also includes three town houses for sale, is planned for the former Police Athletic League building at 1110 N. Third St.

The three-story structure, vacant for 25 years, dates to the mid-1800s, when it was a private mansion. It also had been home to the Harrisburg YMHA and YWHA, and later the Jewish Community Center of Harrisburg.

The building's new incarnation as the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center is the brainchild of the development firm Bartlett, Traynor and London.

John Traynor of New York City said he visited Harrisburg about 13 months ago on a whim and has been buying, restoring and reselling homes here since.

The centerpiece of the complex would be a 10,000-square-foot theater with an industrial kitchen that would serve as the new Harrisburg Playhouse as well as a banquet and meeting facility.

The facility also would be home to the new Harrisburg Film Office; a cafe; a gallery; studios; an antiques, art and artifact shop; an arts supply store; and a swimming pool with saunas, steam rooms and hot tubs.

"It will get Harrisburg a bigger spot on the cultural map," said Carrie Wissler-Thomas, president of the 800-member Art Association of Harrisburg, which plans to team with the new center for gallery events.

"I think it's a great idea," she added. "I've said for years that the Harrisburg area is a wonderful center for the arts and artists. Every week, I have artists who come in looking for studio space. This would be a tremendous boon for the artists here."

The developer wants to have an October opening, but first plans will go to the city planning commission and the City Council for approval.

The project also involves the construction of three town houses at the corner of Susquehanna and Herr streets. Each would be 2,800 square feet, include a two-car garage, and sell for $240,000 to $250,000, according to Traynor.

"It advances the city and midtown as an arts and cultural center, further positioning North Third Street as an arts corridor," Mayor Stephen R. Reed said. "It represents the increasing national attention that Harrisburg's resurgence is gaining, as more and more persons recognize Harrisburg's true potential as a dynamic city for the 21st century."

The city, which acquired the building in the 1980s, is selling it to the developers for $153,000, the amount the city spent to install a new roof and spouting and to keep the structure from collapsing. The land for the three houses is being sold by the city for $20,000, Reed said.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8154 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

ALOT of great news for midtown recently...Also very interesting hearing about John Traynor who moved here from New York and fell in love with the place. This is happening more and more recently, it seems like Harrisburg is becoming more associated with New York rather then Philadelphia. Similar situation with Mary K (from Manhattan) who is planning the condos on Front Street. New Yawk accents are becoming fairly common around here, you'd be surprised how much you hear it in the grocery store, etc.

[EastSideHBG]

/\
Yeah, for some strange reason it seems as if Harrisburg is more connected with Baltimore/DC/VA and NY than it is with Philly. I knew a lot of people that moved to HBG from those areas, but very few from Philly (but I do know a lot of people from HBG that moved to Philly, though).

[danwxman]

/\
Yeah, for some strange reason it seems as if Harrisburg is more connected with Baltimore/DC/VA and NY than it is with Philly. I knew a lot of people that moved to HBG from those areas, but very few from Philly (but I do know a lot of people from HBG that moved to Philly, though).

It probably has to do with the relative economic growth of the NY and DC metro as compared to Philadelphia. NY and DC are growing by leaps and bounds, so their influence is spreading out a lot more.

[EastSideHBG]

Is two years a long time for a 16-story bldg.? Eh, whatever, it's nice to see for sure!


HARRISBURG

Building of Harrisburg U to start

Friday, February 09, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Call it the price of progress.

Starting this weekend, sidewalks will be closed and traffic lanes will be restricted around Fourth and Market streets in Harrisburg as construction begins on a $73 million, 16-story academic center for Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.

Concrete barriers will claim the northern lane of Market Street, reducing the one-way, eastbound street to two lanes around Strawberry Square and continuing to Fourth Street, according to the university's construction plans.

Fourth Street, which normally runs two ways, will be cut to one lane going south between Walnut and Market streets.

In addition, the sidewalks around the construction site will be closed, forcing pedestrians to the other side of the street.

In essence, Market Street's north-side sidewalk will end at Strawberry Square. The west-side sidewalk of Fourth Street will be shut from Market to Walnut.

"It's a growth phase, and not just for the university, but for the city," said university spokesman Steve Infanti. "It's a short-term inconvenience for some traffic for a long-term benefit to the city."

When it opens in January 2009, the academic center will be connected to Strawberry Square and feature street-level retail. City officials and business leaders said they hope that it can be the next Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, Restaurant Row, Strawberry Square or Hilton Harrisburg in terms of its spinoff benefits.

The traffic restrictions and sidewalk closures are expected to remain in place through October 2008, the project's scheduled completion date. But university President Melvyn Schiavelli said the disruptions could have been worse.

The university and contractor Reynolds Construction were able to avoid total street closures in the construction zone by agreeing to stage materials on City Island, then transport them to the site on an as-needed basis.

After the barriers go up this weekend, the first signs of work at the site will be deep drilling as the underpinnings of the high-rise are set. Plans call for 48 holes to be drilled 25 feet deep, then filled with concrete and rebar to anchor the steel, concrete and glass tower.

Schiavelli said university officials will make personal visits to the adjacent offices in Strawberry Square, alerting workers to the possibility of vibrations and noise.

"We want to be sure we are good neighbors," Schiavelli said.

By June, a 240-foot crane will be in place, and it will begin lifting and swinging the steel into place for the building's superstructure. Then the crane will lay on the building's skin -- hundreds of precast concrete pieces that will be fitted into place.

The private university is taking steps to help minority and woman-owned firms get a share of the work and to ensure minority employees will be well-represented on the job site, officials said.

Harrisburg University is paying an independent firm to oversee minority participation, and it has arranged and paid for a $600,000 insurance policy to make sure the firms are adequately bonded, often a barrier to minority participation.

"That hurdle is now taken out of the way," Schiavelli said. "It's a big project, and we definitely want companies to participate."

In fact, when the last of the subcontracts are awarded, university officials estimated that there could be 100 to 150 firms with roles in building the tower.

The 2-year-old university and its 177 students are housed at Harrisburg's SciTech High building at 215 Market St.

When completed, the tower is to include classroom space for up to 1,600 students, capacity to carry the university through the next decade. It is to include a library, a 125-seat auditorium, a student services center, laboratories, and first-floor retail and restaurant space.

[danwxman]

Messiah College expanding city presence
Messiah College will expand its presence of the Harrisburg Institute to a historic downtown building at 28 Dewberry St. Mayor Stephen R. Reed and officials of Messiah College and Harristown Development Corp. unveiled plans for a $2.5 million renovation and upgrade of the vacant building.

Harrisburg Institute for Community Research and Collaborative Partnerships will move into the 10,000-square-foot facility that will house residential units for at least 25 full-time students, and will also include classrooms and office space.

Since the renovated facilities will be owned by Dewberry LLC, an affiliate of Harristown Development Corp., will remain on the tax rolls because it is leased by the college.

The additional college facilities will expand the International House neighborhood around Third and Chestnut streets to add to Harrisburg's continually growing role as a center for higher eduation, Reed said in a release.

— From staff reports

[klingy04]

Here's CPBJ's take on the Messiah expansion in Harrisburg. I thought the bolded quote was interesting.

Messiah College expanding in Harrisburg
Eric Veronikis
Central Penn Business Journal Staff
2/9/2007

This fall, the Harrisburg Institute of Messiah College is moving into a 10,000-square-foot vacant building at the corner of Dewberry and Chestnut streets in downtown Harrisburg.
Mayor Stephen R. Reed joined representatives from Messiah, Harristown Development Corp. and R.S. Mowery & Sons to announce the $2.5 million investment today.

The facility is owned by Dewberry, an affiliate of Harrisburg-based Harristown Development Corp. Mechanicsburg-based Mowery is the general contractor for the renovation and will provide construction management at the site. Mowery is also an equity investor in the project, Reed said. Construction is set to begin immediately and the facility will open for the fall semester. Messiah will lease the building.

The Harrisburg Institute was established in 2002 and is made up by educational and developmental programs, service projects and community collaborations designed to connect Messiah students and faculty to experiences and opportunities in an urban environment, Messiah Dean Joseph Jones said.

Since its inception, the institute operated out of Grace United Methodist Church in Harrisburg and leased apartments and office space at the corner of North and Liberty streets, Jones said. The facility will provide housing for 25 students also. This development is phase one of a three-phase initiative Messiah is pursuing to expand its reach in Harrisburg, Reed said.

The building to be renovated is about 100 years old. It is in a southern portion of downtown that is filled with historic structures dating back to the 19th Century, Reed said. Until August, McCreath Laboratories occupied the building for the past 50 years.

[Austinlee]

Isn't there any renderings at all for any of these new condo/residential projects or the university projects?

I don't think I've ever seen any pictures or renderings in this thread and I've read it faithfully for a couple years now...

[EastSideHBG]

Isn't there any renderings at all for any of these new condo/residential projects or the university projects?

I don't think I've ever seen any pictures or renderings in this thread and I've read it faithfully for a couple years now...
LOL well then apparently you haven't been looking hard enough. All one needs to do is go a mere few pages back, like page 66 post #1640 (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=2452105&postcount=1640) for example, and you will see a rendering of just one of the many projects. Heck, go back to page 1 and forward, and you may even be blown away, even if you have been "reading this thread faithfully for a couple of years now".

:slob: :rolleyes:

EDIT: a two second search turned up this: http://www.harrisburgu.net/about/new-building/

[Wheelingman04]

I have always enjoyed this thread. I really like to keep up with what is going on all over my favorite state of Pennsylvania. Keep up the good work, EastSideHBG.:tup:

[EastSideHBG]

/\
Thanks a lot, Wheelingman04! :tup:

[Evergrey]

Did you know that Harrisburg has a daytime population increase of 72.7%... the 17th largest percentage gain amongst cities 25,000-49,000?

http://www.census.gov/population/socdemo/daytime/2000/tab01.xls

[Wheelingman04]

^ That is a really cool statistic.

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07047/762534-28.stm

Hershey kissing jobs goodbye, moving work to Mexico
Friday, February 16, 2007

By Peter Jackson, The Associated Press

HARRISBURG -- The Hershey Co., whose name has been synonymous with U.S. candy making for more than a century, is moving a bigger chunk of its production to Mexico.

A day after Valentine sweethearts across the country enjoyed bags of Hershey Kisses, the company yesterday announced a restructuring plan that will scale back its work force by 1,500 jobs and force some plants to close.

Hershey said the three-year blueprint would reduce the number of production lines by more than one-third while saving the company as much as $190 million a year.

The maker of Hershey's Kisses, Reese's peanut butter cups and Mounds bars employs about 13,000 at 20 plants in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. The planned cuts amount to 11.5 percent of that work force.

The proportion of Hershey's manufacturing done in the United States and Canada will shrink, from 90 percent to 80 percent, and the impact will vary from one plant to another.

"Some will be expanded, some will be downsized and some will close," said Hershey spokesman Kirk Saville. He declined to elaborate.

"We recognize this will involve considerable change over the next three years, and intend to make this transformation of our supply chain as smooth as possible for our employees and customers," said Richard H. Lenny, Hershey's president, chairman and chief executive officer.

A union leader suggested that the planned new plant in Monterrey, Mexico, would make the job cuts in the United States and Canada particularly acute.

Dennis Bomberger, business manager for Chocolate Workers Local 464, which represents 2,500 workers at Hershey plants in Hershey and Reading, speculated that the actual job cuts could have to be deeper to achieve a net work force reduction of 1,500.

"They're going to gain some jobs in Mexico ? so there's going to be a higher number lost" in the U.S. and Canada, Mr. Bomberger said. "Whenever they move something out the country, that's not good news for any company from the workers' standpoint."

Mr. Saville declined to discuss any details about the job cuts or the Mexico plant. Hershey managers began holding meeting with employees yesterday to discuss the changes ahead.

"We will communicate with our employees and (their) union representatives," he said.

Hershey's stock rose 1.6 percent yesterday on the New York Stock Exchange, to close at $52.10, up 80 cents.

Hershey, the nation's largest candy maker, reported a 10 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings last month on lackluster sales. Results lagged due to weak merchandising, the company said, as well as a recall of products made at a plant in Canada last year after salmonella bacteria was discovered.

Reaction to yesterday's announcement among financial analysts was mixed.

"Bottom-line, this plan should provide (Hershey) with far more marketing firepower, behind which to invest in its core brands ? as well as new platforms," such as premium chocolate and dark chocolate, "while still delivering margin improvement," wrote Andrew Lazar of Lehman Brothers.

Wachovia Securities analyst Jonathan P. Feeney said the plan leaves fundamental problems unaddressed.

"We are skeptical that pulling capacity out of the system while allocating capital away from the core business accomplishes the critical mission, which is to reinvigorate consumer response to its core chocolate products," Mr. Feeney wrote.

The company said it would outsource production of low value-added items and that the new Mexican plant would help meet growing demand for its products in that country.

"The long-term benefits will include a significant, sustainable increase in investment behind Hershey's iconic brands and new product innovation, as well as targeted, profitable international expansion," said Chief Operating Officer David J. West.

Hershey reaffirmed its long-term target for sales growth of 3 percent to 4 percent.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

( Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

[EastSideHBG]

/\
Bad, bad news for the HBG area. This announcement came on the same day that SuperValu announced that they are going to close the HBG warehouse, and that is 400+ jobs in the city. No word as of yet if these employees will be able to take a job in the Denver (Lancaster), PA plant either. :(

http://www.pennlive.com/business/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/business/11715081109040.xml&coll=1

[Wheelingman04]

Damn, that sucks.

[EastSideHBG]

Hershey job losses reflect regional trend

Pressure to cut costs called driving force

Monday, February 19, 2007
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

News that The Hershey Co. might eliminate as many as 3,000 jobs in a realignment of its operations in the next three years resurrects bad memories of big losses of manufacturing jobs in the midstate.

The regional impact of the Hershey restructuring isn't clear. The candy maker isn't saying how many jobs will be trimmed in central Pennsylvania or if any local plants will be closed or downsized.

The Hershey announcement is part of an erosion of manufacturing jobs that has been occurring in the region and nationwide for at least 10 years.

Bombshells such as the one dropped by Hershey last week focus attention on the job losses because the numbers involved are large. In May 1999, when Tyco International Ltd. acquired AMP Inc. in Swatara Twp., 2,000 people eventually were out of work.

A long-term decline:

Most often the bloodletting has been quiet and gradual. Masland Industries, the carpet maker in Carlisle, had 1,200 workers in 1996 when the plant was acquired by Lear Corp., a Michigan-based supplier of interior components for vehicles. Today, the Lear plant employs a little more than 600 people.

From 1995 through 2005, the number of manufacturing jobs throughout south-central Pennsylvania fell from 116,000 to 93,300, a drop of 24 percent, according to the state Department of Labor and Industry.

The decline slowed in recent years, and from 2004 through 2005, the number of manufacturing jobs in the region increased by 100.

But experts say the long-term trend is for more declines. The region is projected to lose nearly 6,000 manufacturing jobs by 2014, based on an estimate in 2004 by the South Central Workforce Investment Board.

On paper, all the displaced workers should find other jobs, since the total number of nonfarm jobs in the region is expected to grow until 2014.

The challenge is whether people who lose manufacturing jobs can become qualified for work in the employment sectors expected to be the region's biggest job generators, such as health care and information technology.

Consumer attitudes hurt:

Pressure to cut costs is making manufacturing jobs go away, said Michael Smeltzer, executive director of the Manufacturers Association of South Central Pennsylvania. In his view, consumers put that pressure on manufacturers.

"We like to buy things as cheaply as we can. For most people, it doesn't matter whether they are made in Harrisburg or Haiti. If it is what we want, if it is the quality we want, then we want the lowest price," Smeltzer said.

"Wal-Mart isn't successful because they have products nobody else has but because they have been able to buy enough volume and pressure suppliers to offer the lowest prices to the consumer," he said. "Manufacturers are caught up in that. We have to continue to lower our costs."

Smeltzer said manufacturers have three basic costs: raw materials, administration and employees.

Companies have little control over the price of raw materials. Manufacturers spend millions of dollars to reduce administrative costs, Smeltzer said. That leaves the employees, over which companies have the most control.

"It's not unusual for a major customer to demand a 5 percent to 10 percent reduction each year. If your raw materials, energy [prices] and taxes are going up, then obviously you have to look somewhere. Can we invest in technology to replace labor, or do we have to move the jobs somewhere else?" Smeltzer said.

Manufacturers have invested plenty to automate factories, to increase quality and productivity and reduce the number of workers, Smeltzer said.

Hershey's plan to build another plant in Mexico is an example of companies going outside the U.S. to find cheaper labor.

Smeltzer contended that in most cases in which Pennsylvania manufacturers go elsewhere for cheaper labor, they don't go to another country but to another state where unions don't have as much power.

Stephen Herzenberg, an economist and executive director of the Keystone Research Center, said automation sheds jobs more quickly in manufacturing.

"By 2020, manufacturing will be less than one in 10 jobs in Pennsylvania," he said. "Manufacturing productivity grows more rapidly than productivity in nursing homes."

Productivity costs jobs:

Rising productivity holds the promise of improving the standard of living for Americans in the long run, Herzenberg said. But in the short run, it leads to job cuts and increases the gap between rich and poor because workers displaced by technology and cost-cutting often end up in low-wage jobs.

"If there are going to be major layoffs, typically workers with high-wage jobs pay a heavy penalty for the loss of that job. Many of them come down an economic rung and stay down," Herzenberg said.

One way to help displaced workers is to give them a wage supplement so they can afford to go back to school. This can "make up the difference" so a worker displaced by The Hershey Co., for instance, can learn skills and get a job in the region's fast-growing health care sector, Herzenberg said.

One program, offered by Harrisburg Area Community College, enables displaced workers to get training and earn up to an associate degree without paying tuition. The state is helping fund the Education Assistance Program, said Jim Fox, dean of work force development at HACC. Workers are trained for a variety of "high-growth" jobs, from radiological technician to law enforcement, he said.

Fox is confident that the region has -- or will have -- resources and programs to help workers displaced by the erosion of manufacturing jobs.

"I'm optimistic that we do have some short-term stopgaps in place, and I think that the leadership in this area does have larger visions as to how the manufacturing transition is going to take place," he said.

[EastSideHBG]

What he f*ck?!? Look at some of the new site ideas! :koko:

HARRISBURG

Residents able to discuss court sites

Wednesday, February 21, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Last time, the public's voice helped scuttle the U.S. government's preferred site for a new federal courthouse for Harrisburg.

This time, as the U.S. General Services Administration reviews 10 site possibilities, the agency is seeking public feedback earlier in the process.

The first major opportunity for residents to weigh in is at 6:30 tonight in ballrooms A and B of the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 23 S. Second St.

"The focus of the meeting is to really hear what people have to say," GSA spokeswoman Gina Blyther Gilliam said.

She added that in the last search, the agency didn't hold public hearings until after identifying its three final sites.

"This time is different," Gilliam said. "People are going to be able to give input early in the process."

GSA last month narrowed its second search for a federal courthouse to 10 sites, including:

The Dauphin County Administration Building on Market Square; the Payne-Shoemaker and other buildings at North Third and Pine street; Penn State Harrisburg's Eastgate building and an M&T Bank branch on North Seventh Street; the Scottish Rite Cathedral near Division Street; and a block along North Second Street that includes a Commerce Bank branch, Dunkin' Donuts and the Sandwich Man.

In a sharp break with the GSA's first search, the agency's new list does not contain residential properties.

The agency has relaxed some of its other criteria, allowing it to consider smaller lots, more expensive sites, locations in the floodplain and sites farther from the city center.

The process is expected to culminate in a site for the $100 million courthouse project sometime in 2008.

All three final sites in the first search would have uprooted scores of residents, at Cumberland Court apartments, the Jackson-Lick public housing towers or in the Capitol-area neighborhood at Third and Forster streets.

A public backlash ultimately forced the agency to scuttle the search. The pivotal moment came at an Aug. 17 public hearing at which residents of Cumberland Court, GSA's preferred site, gave government officials an earful.

The outcry prompted GSA Regional Administrator Barbara L. Shelton to halt the project, reject all three sites and order a new search.

David Zwifka, executive director of Historic Harrisburg Association, said while no residential buildings are targets this time, residents have a clear stake in the outcome.

"This courthouse is going to have an impact on surrounding residential neighborhoods and the continued development of Harrisburg," he said.

For example, Zwifka said, the site at Sixth and Reily streets could fuel further development of the city's midtown neighborhood by turning a parking lot into a thriving courthouse.

"Personally, I have a bias toward the development of vacant land," he said. "I think that's really the way to go."

The six- to 14-floor, 262,970-square-foot courthouse would have eight courtrooms and space for expansion. It is to be ready by 2012. The existing courthouse building would still house other federal offices.

*******************

LOWER PAXTON TWP.

Linglestown project approved

Wednesday, February 21, 2007
BY DIANA FISHLOCK
Of The Patriot-News

Lower Paxton Twp. supervisors approved the Village of Linglestown right-of-way plan last night, saying they hope the $5 million project can begin late this year.

The project will include a bypass road through the backyard and side yard of Doris Rowe of Blue Mountain Parkway.

Her children spoke passionately at several village committee meetings about how the loss of any of her land would mean an end to their large, extended family gatherings.

No Rowe family members attended the supervisors meeting last night and Rowe had no comment when called after the meeting.

"I didn't know anything about it," her son Tom Rowe said after the meeting. "I feel absolutely steamrolled. It's absolutely amazing. I would like to know why they're doing this to us."

The project began in 1993 as a proposal for a traffic light in the town's square and has expanded to include two traffic roundabouts and decorative streetlights, benches and pavements.

"It's been a long time coming," chairman William Hawk said after the vote. If the project is approved by the state, the township will begin acquiring land for it.

Supervisor William Seeds said he hopes the project can be finished by fall 2008.

In addition to Rowe's land, the project will require a narrow strip along Linglestown Road from the fire house in the 5800 block to beyond Margaret Drive, said Jeffrey Case of Arora and Associates traffic engineers. The project will require 1.6 acres permanently and another 1.6 acres temporarily during construction, Case said.

Supervisor Bill Hornung expressed concern about the safety of the roundabouts and the back-in parking in the town square, but "I don't see any other answer," he said. "I've talked to PennDOT about it and they say it works. I have to take their word for it."

[EastSideHBG]

Well it looks as if the Southern Gateway is out now, which sucks really bad. And 3rd and Pine? Say bye-bye to a lot of businesses if that happens!

Yep, it seems as if round 2 will be just as silly as round 1. :no:


HARRISBURG

5 possible courthouse sites in floodplain face hurdle

Thursday, February 22, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Ten sites across Harrisburg are under consideration for a new federal courthouse, but the odds are stacked against half of them.

The U.S. General Services Administration official leading the site search said yesterday that possible locations in the city's 100- to 500-year floodplain have a "high hurdle" to clear to be selected for the $100 million project.

GSA Project Director Abby Low said the agency would have to rule out the five alternative sites outside the floodplain before it could select one of the five locations within the floodplain.

Low pointed out that no floodplain sites made it beyond the initial review stage during the agency's first, unsuccessful search. She said a floodplain site would have to be the only viable alternative remaining in the search to become the courthouse site. The agency expects to make its final selection in 2008.

These sites are within the floodplain:

# The Scottish Rite Cathedral at North Third and Wiconisco streets;

# The southwestern corner of Maclay and Cameron streets near the Farm Show Complex;

# South Front and Sycamore streets near the PennDOT building;

# Two Southern Gateway sites at the opposite corners of Second and Paxton streets.

The following sites, all outside the floodplain, might have a better chance of final selection:

# The southwestern corner of Third and Pine streets;

# The Dauphin County Administration Building at South Second and Market streets;

# The northwest corner of Seventh and Boas streets;

# The northeast corner of North Sixth and Reily streets;

# The southeast corner of North Second and Locust streets.

Last night, about 100 people responded to the GSA's call for input at an open house-style meeting at the Crowne Plaza hotel.

People perused placards listing details of the 10 sites, then traded comments with each other and government officials about their favorites.

City Councilwoman Wanda R.D. Williams touted the benefits of developing the largely vacant tract at Sixth and Reily streets. But Stan Lawson, president of the NAACP of Greater Harrisburg, said he was partial to Seventh and Boas streets.

Both agreed that sites outside downtown would better spread the economic impact.

Attorney Charles O. Beckley took the opposite view, saying he's pulling for one of the three locations within the central business district.

He said it's a matter of convenience for courthouse "consumers" -- lawyers such as himself.

"It's nice to be able to walk to the courthouse if your office is downtown," Beckley said, adding that he sees Third and Pine streets as a "premiere location."

Low said that while GSA remains open to input, it was unlikely the agency would add any sites to its list.

"We feel really good about these 10 sites," she said.

[wrightchr]

^ wow...i totally didn't see this coming. i thought for sure that the GSA would seriously consider sites in the southern gateway. i'm not really happy with the proposed sites in DT...and the ones proposed for Uptown and Midtown just won't cut it. the courthouse should be in the central business district IMHO. the site at 3rd and Pine would definately displace businesses....but more than that, it's only a block or so away from the current structure. so why not just raze the current building and start over??? ultimately, a smaller site location may mean a taller structure for DT...maybe in the range of 12+ floors, similar to Buffalo's new federal courthouse. what i don't understand is, if almost all of DT is in the floodplain...that's nearly 10 million sq. ft of office space and almost 30 highrise structures...than why all of a sudden is it objectionable to the federal government to build there? the whole reasoning for building a new structure was to accommodate more internal space and upgrades for security concerns. now flooding seems to be a major concern??? at this rate, this thing will never get built.

at any rate, here some images of recent federal building construction. any thoughts on what this new building may look like?

Buffalo, NY
http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/images/courthouses-federal3a.jpg

Syracuse, NY
http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/images/courthouses-state1.jpg

Portland, OR
http://www.concurringopinions.com/archives/images/courthouses-federal7.jpg

[EastSideHBG]

/\
Nice pics! Thanks, Chris, and here's to hoping HBG gets something as nice.

RE: the flood zone, the GSA's rules clearly state that they cannot build in a flood plain. But the Southern Gateway was considered because the area was supposed to be built up ABOVE the flood plain. So what's this telling us now? IMO it is saying that either A) the SG is not going to happen B) the plans have changed and the SG will still be in the flood plain C) the SG is delayed BIG TIME, and the feds can't wait around and need to look elsewhere. Any way you slice it it's not good, because the federal courthouse could've been a major tenant in that area. :no:

In other news, the Mayor is suing City Council. (http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/117220110796240.xml&coll=1) How can a town move forward with problems and squabbles as deep as they are now?!? HBG REALLY needs to get its ass back in line...it won't go anywhere until it does...

[wrightchr]

/\
Nice pics! Thanks, Chris, and here's to hoping HBG gets something as nice.

In other news, the Mayor is suing City Council. (http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/117220110796240.xml&coll=1) How can a town move forward with problems and squabbles as deep as they are now?!? HBG REALLY needs to get its ass back in line...it won't go anywhere until it does...

thanks Dave! i'm interested to see how the recent lawsuit filed against council will pan out. i see why Reed is pushing it though...his appointees basically control the major political machines in the city and he isn't likely to go down without a fight.

[EastSideHBG]

Sounds to me like the doctors are worried about the competition and are using traffic issues as an excuse:

EAST PENNSBORO TWP.
Building plan stirs traffic concerns
Friday, March 02, 2007
BY JERRY L. GLEASON
Of The Patriot-News

A proposed four-story, 80,000-square-foot medical center on Poplar Church Road near Holy Spirit Hospital is drawing criticism from business owners concerned about increased traffic.

Dr. Reza Azizkhan said he and the owners of other private medical offices on Poplar Church Road object to the project based on traffic safety.

"It is very difficult to get in and out of our property at certain times of the day, and this will make a bad situation worse," Azizkhan said. "We don't think the infrastructure will stand up to the increased traffic volume."

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/117280143584480.xml&coll=1

****************

HARRISBURG
Bethesda Mission annex plan clears public-meeting hurdles
Friday, March 02, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

During two days of community meetings, Bethesda Mission encountered no opposition to its plans to renovate and expand its homeless shelter and support services at Sixth and Reily streets.

Bethesda officials said last night that they hope for a similar reception when they return to the Harrisburg Planning Commission next week seeking approval for the $7.6 million project.

"It's been extremely positive," Rich Harper, chairman of Bethesda's board, said of the sparsely attended meetings that concluded last night.

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1172803222135350.xml&coll=1

***********

My theory is that Reed knows he is on his way out so he is going to put a dent in the city that will be felt for years, and create a hole so deep in that city, the next Mayor will have trouble digging out of. :no:


HARRISBURG

Dispute threatens city's charter, Reed says

Dispute about power, Reed, Council foes say

Friday, March 02, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Mayor Stephen R. Reed and Harrisburg City Council have been on the opposite sides of plenty of issues of late.

A feud that simmered over Reed's purchase of museum artifacts, then came to a boil over a ballooning city budget deficit, landed in Dauphin County Court over the council's appointments to the Harrisburg Authority, the agency that owns the city's troubled trash incinerator.

"I am saddened and disappointed by Mayor Reed and his private attorneys who have taken part in suing the council," Councilwoman Linda Thompson said.

But when asked about the roots of the rift, Reed and several council members said the real issues have less to do with board appointments and everything to do with power.

Reed charged that the five council members who overrode his veto of legislation asserting council's appointment powers were trying to tamper with Harrisburg's voter-approved charter, which has been sacrosanct since 1969.

Reed said he's had plenty of disputes with past councils, some even landing in court. But this time, he said, the stakes were higher, as the acrimony threatened the city's strong-mayor form of government, in which more power is vested in the executive branch.

"It's not the low point of mayor-council relations," Reed said. "But this is the first time any City Council has attempted to alter the city charter approved by the voters. You just can't stand by and let that occur."

Reed said any change to the charter must be done through voter referendum, not by council action.

Council members point out that they had a valid legal opinion from city Solicitor Steven Dade clearing the way for their legislation and appointments.

By exercising those appointment powers, council members said they were elevating themselves to a more collaborative role in city government, rather than serving as a rubber stamp.

The appointments would have given the council a measure of control over the Harrisburg Authority, the agency that oversees the city incinerator, its water and sewer utilities and a fund that Reed has tapped for millions of dollars for artifact purchases.

"It was time to change the guard over there," Thompson said, referring to Reed's artifact spending and an $80 million renovation of the incinerator that the authority says was botched by the contractor.

Council members said the battle for balance would go on, despite a 30-day court injunction barring council's appointees from taking office.

The larger legal case over the constitutionality of the council's appointment powers will proceed in county court. Reed also has filed for emergency relief from the state Supreme Court.

"We are in no way tired, weary or daunted," Thompson said. "We will continue to fight for a balanced representation and a balanced government. A few setbacks we can handle."

Where council members see balance, Reed said he suspects ulterior motives.

Having rejected Reed's pervious three nominees to the Harrisburg Authority, the council had a chance to install a voting majority on the five-member board. Reed described this as an "ominous" prospect because the authority must decide on complicated plans to rescue the incinerator, which Reed said is losing $1 million a month.

The council's attorney, Ronald Katzman, had a more benign view of council's actions, saying it was good-faith effort to appoint three "well-regarded, well-qualified" people.

Two decades ago, the council and Reed squared off over the mayor's efforts to bring baseball to City Island, suing each other over who had the authority to negotiate terms and execute leases for the city-owned stadium.

"The idea of people in public office getting sued in their capacity -- that happens everyday," said Bruce Foreman, solicitor for the Harrisburg Authority.

[wrightchr]

Sounds to me like the doctors are worried about the competition and are using traffic issues as an excuse:
i agree Dave...another office building for that location won't really make that much of an impact. another 4 story mixed use office building is being constructed nearby on the CH Bypass next the Radison Penn Harris and directly across from a new large townhouse development under construction in CH. this area of the West Shore is booming with development lately. what should and could happen, is the widening of Poplar Church and Erford Roads to accomodate the increased traffic.

My theory is that Reed knows he is on his way out so he is going to put a dent in the city that will be felt for years, and create a hole so deep in that city, the next Mayor will have trouble digging out of. :no:
i don't think that's the case at all Dave. we're talking about a man who has been mayor for nearly 3 decades...since 1981. i think he cares a great deal about the city and you can see that in his motives, ie: fixing the city incinirator, museum artifacts, etc. some of his ideas may be controversial, but i don't think it makes sense for council to override the cities voter-approved charter and just nominate whoever they want to whatever office they want. as long as Harrisburg maintains a strong mayor form of government, i don't see council winning on any of it's attempts to take over certain influential positions within the city. and if past court battles between the mayor and city council have any weight, i think Linda Thompson and the rest of council should think twice about wasting more tax payer dollars battling over who gets to say what! if they want more power, then the request should to go before the voters of the city...first.

[wrightchr]

Mayor backs 3 for seats on City Council
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News
Mayor Stephen R. Reed has a remedy for what he described as the "mischief and maliciousness" on Harrisburg City Council.

He said the solution is his slate of three City Council candidates, introduced yesterday -- Calobe Jackson Jr., Brad Koplinski and G. Eugenia Smith.

The three candidates would challenge incumbents Susan Brown Wilson and Gloria Martin-Roberts for the Democratic nomination in the May 15 primary.

In Harrisburg, winners of the Democratic nomination typically go on to victory in the general election.

A third incumbent, Vera Jean White, said she is not running after serving four consecutive four-year terms.

"For too long a select group of council members have ruled over this city's legislative body through fear, intimidation and a steadfast commitment to disrupting and reducing the city's capacity to properly function on a day-to-day basis," Reed said at a news conference yesterday.

"It is time to change this unfortunate circumstance, and with this dynamic new team, citizens can do just that," he said.

Reed identified Wilson and Martin-Roberts as members of a voting block that he said has consistently opposed him for what he called the sake of "divisiveness."

He recited problems, including last year's budget battle that resulted in layoffs and last week's court battle over council appointments to the Harrisburg Authority, as examples of council-caused "disruptions."

Wilson and Martin-Roberts could not be reached for comment yesterday. Messages for each were left at their work, homes and city offices.

Jackson, 76, a retired superintendent with U.S. Postal Service, is president of the Board of Control of the Harrisburg School District.

A city native, he is past president of the city's elected school board, a body he joined in 1993. He is a published author and noted black historian, documenting Harrisburg's Negro League-era baseball team, among other subjects.

"I am concerned about the direction of City Council, so I decided to run," he said. "Our current council is very hostile. Three new members can turn that around."

Koplinski, 37, came to Harrisburg as a regional staff member of Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign. He liked the city and stayed.

An attorney, Koplinski works as a policy analyst with the state auditor general's office. He has work experience with the civil rights division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Office of the Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service.

He said he would use his knowledge of government and politics to better Harrisburg.

Smith, 46, a lifelong city resident, is a senior administrator with the Harrisburg School District, where she oversees programs to increase parental involvement and to provide health and other services to poor students. She also assists low-income pregnant women.

A former Pennsylvania Blue Shield employee, Smith said she would use her health industry experience to expand services in Harrisburg.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8154 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

SCHOOL SLATE

The mayor and his Committee for a Better Harrisburg also are supporting a slate for the nine available seats on the elected school board. Receiving retention nods are incumbents Dan Howard, Jeffrey Moore, Loretta Barbee Dare, Lionel Gonzalez, Esther Edwards and Daniel Wiedemer. They are joined by newcomers Roy Christ, Oscar Douglas and former city spokesman Randy King in receiving the mayor's endorsement.

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1173151502115930.xml&coll=1

[wrightchr]

More lanes weighed for Route 39 traffic
Congestion worsens in Susquehanna Twp.
Monday, March 05, 2007
BY CARRIE CASSIDY
Of The Patriot-News
More often than not, Lorring Gross is forced to make a right turn from his driveway onto Linglestown Road, even if he'd like to go the other way.

The steady stream of traffic often prevents Gross from turning left out of his driveway, just west of Crooked Hill Road in Susquehanna Twp., onto the heavily traveled corridor.

"Usually I sit for a while, then I have to turn right, go up the block and turn around," Gross said. "If it wouldn't be for some very nice people, I wouldn't be able to get in and out."

More than 20,000 vehicles pass Gross' house every day, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. That's a 22 percent jump from 15 years ago, when PennDOT last widened the stretch just east of Routes 22/322.

Now, with another shopping center planned for Linglestown Road, also known as Route 39, township and state officials are trying to find a solution to the traffic problems along one of Dauphin County's main thoroughfares.

Cedar Shopping Centers Inc. plans to build a 116,000-square-foot shopping center anchored by a Giant Food Store. The Port Washington, N.Y.-based developer agreed to a six-month delay in its planning while PennDOT reviews its traffic study and makes suggestions on road improvements.

In 2003, the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission recommended continuing the widening to Progress Avenue. The option is resurfacing now that another shopping center, which will undoubtedly put pressure on the stressed road, could be built in the next few years.

Township Commissioner Sherri Levin-McConnell agrees that improvements need to be made to the road to accommodate the shopping center's traffic. But improvements need to be made to the entire length of the road to ease congestion and improve safety, she said.

"This is much bigger than Susquehanna Twp.," Levin-McConnell said. "We need a long-term plan. I honestly don't know what the solution is, but something has to be done. There are a lot of accidents, especially in the middle lane."

Levin-McConnell said the center lane added by PennDOT in 1992 is known throughout the township as "the suicide lane."

Like Levin-McConnell, police Chief Rob Martin said many motorists, frustrated by the congestion, drive hundreds of feet in the center lane to make a turn.

The misuse of the center lane creates dangerous situations, Martin said.

Nearly 160 accidents happened along the township's stretch of Linglestown Road in the past three years, he said. He could not say how many of those accidents were caused by motorists misusing the center lane.

"Yes, [the middle lane] can help with congestion, but to drive 500 to 800 feet in the center lane puts oncoming traffic at great risk," Martin said. "Maybe additional lanes of traffic can help. I am interested to see what PennDOT decides to do."

Gross often is one of those motorists at risk when drivers use the center lane to merge into traffic. He's had several close calls while waiting to turn left into his driveway in the 1900 block of Linglestown Road.

Gross, who has lived on Linglestown Road for about 20 years, said he's learned when to plan trips, but sometimes he can't avoid venturing onto the road during busy times.

And when the "nice people" let him into the line of traffic, he said, he keeps something in mind.

"I just think, 'Thank God for courteous drivers,'" he said.

CARRIE CASSIDY: 255-8244 or ccassidy@patriot-news.com

[EastSideHBG]

I'm sorry, Chris, but I got nothing out of that article except for Reed's typical "I want a council of puppets that will go along with whatever I say." I do feel that City Council DESPERATELY needs a shake up, but not in that manner.

Like I always say, I will never, ever downplay what Reed has done for Harrisburg and the area as a whole. But I would like to see him gone...

[Evergrey]

Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon, PA Economic Area (2004 figures)

Total Personal Income: $62,618,644 (34th out of 179)
Population: 2,064,399 (36th out of 179)
Per Capita Personal Income: 92% of national average (53rd out of 179)
Total Personal Income Growth Rate 1994-2004: 4.2% (5.2% nationally)
Per Capita Personal Income Growth Rate 1994-2004: 3.6% (4.1% nationally)




Harrisburg's Economic Area is No. 70 on this map, including the Pennsylvania counties of:
Dauphin, York, Lancaster, Adams, Cumberland, Lebanon, Perry, Juniata, Mifflin, Snyder, Union, Northumberland, Montour, Columbia, Lycoming and Clinton.

http://www.bea.gov/regional/_images/ea/EconAreaMap_small.gif

[EastSideHBG]

Thanks a lot for the info, Evergrey! I am not surprised at all to see the Per Capita Personal Income figure so high, as salaries are pretty good there when compared to the COL. And even though the COL seems to be going quite high (I am speaking strictly as compared to what it was; it is still a bargain compared to other metros, yes) it is still fairly easy for one to have a comfortable life there.

[EastSideHBG]

Nothing in almost two weeks? I guess everyone is losing interest? I can honestly say that I am. Well okay let me rephrase that: I am losing interest in being one of the primary sources of posts here; I just don't have the time anymore, and a lot of my focus is now on my new home and what is going on here. With me not living in HBG anymore, I am not as in the loop as I used to be. Are the other HBG forumers interested in keeping this thread going, or should we just let it "die"? What do you guys think?

I haven't been keeping up on the news lately but I popped over today to see this. Wow, another parking garage. That's nice and all and I am sure it will be necessary for HACC, but how about some new RESIDENTIAL buildings!


HARRISBURG

Parking garage proposed for midtown

Wednesday, March 21, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg's midtown might soon get a parking garage.

Dan Leppo, city building and housing director, said yesterday the city is close to reaching a deal to build a public garage in the neighborhood bounded by Herr, Reily, Third and Fifth streets.

Leppo said a study commissioned by the Harrisburg Parking Authority showed a need for as many as 1,200 parking spaces in the area. Most city parking garage projects tend to be about 800 spaces and typically cost about $15,000 per parking space to build.

Work centered around the expansion of Harrisburg Area Community College's midtown campus is driving the need for parking in the area.

Powers & Associates of Harrisburg is renovating a building at Third and Reily streets as part of a $14 million, 125,000-square-foot project that is to house HACC's building and trade programs. It is expected to bring more than 2,500 students to midtown each day beginning next fall.

The firm also is building an $11 million, 65,000-square- foot office and retail complex at 1426 N. Third St.

John Tierney, an official with Powers & Associates, said the projects will require 500 parking spaces. If the city doesn't build a public garage, the company would have to build a private garage to serve its buildings, he said.

"If the developer builds it, it wouldn't be open to the public," said Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority Chairwoman Terri Martini.

The redevelopment authority put off action on the project yesterday.

Several residential construction projects are under way in the area.

Also, a lot at Sixth and Reily streets is among 10 alternatives for a $100 million federal courthouse project.

[danwxman]

Well, I'm around, but not much has really been going on lately. Two things though...
ABC27 did a story tonight on a warehouse conversion at Market street and 10th. This would be the first warehouse to residential project in the city, I think. 8 "loft-style" condos with prices starting at $200,000! And this is in one of the worst neighborhoods of the city, but one that is gentrifying with other new housing as well....and apparently 4 of them have already sold before it was announced.

Also, a friend and I were driving around midtown on one of those warm days last week. He's thinking about buying a townhome in the city. We were both amazed at the pedestrian and construction activity going on, and it was really nice to see. That part of Harrisburg is really taking off.

[danwxman]

Boomtown
3rd downtown hotel in works, Reed says
Friday, March 23, 2007
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

The development boom in downtown Harrisburg shows no signs of ending.

During a public forum Wednesday, Mayor Stephen R. Reed said he will make an announcement about a third "major" downtown hotel within a few weeks. He also hinted at the possibility of a fourth hotel.

The mayor also noted the continued growth of Restaurant Row on Second Street. Plans are in the works to add five restaurants in that area in coming months, he said.

Reed could not be reached for further comment following the panel discussion, which was held at the Hilton Harrisburg and focused on downtown revitalization trends. Lancaster Mayor J. Richard Gray and Reading Mayor Thomas M. McMahon joined Reed on the panel.

The hotel proposals would be on top of two downtown hotel ventures announced earlier.

The first, the Starwood Aloft hotel at Second and State streets, is being developed by J. Alex Hartzler. Approved by City Council last year, the $10 million, 13-story hotel is poised for a July construction start and a planned opening in the fall of 2008.

The most recent proposal, the $14 million, 10-story Cosmopolitan Hotel at Third and State streets, has been approved by the Harrisburg Zoning Hearing Board to exceed a city height limit. The plan is pending before City Council. Developer Jules Patt of Hollidaysburg hopes to start building this year and open in mid-2008.

The mayors all spoke of the value of tax incentives in attracting investment. Gray said Lancaster is pushing for state tax credits that, along with federal tax credits, would further offset the cost to redevelop buildings listed as historic properties.

Reed said Harrisburg taxes improvements on buildings at one-sixth the rate of improvements on vacant land. Moreover, the city's tax-abatement program means the impact of the increased property tax on building improvements can be phased in over 10 years.

However, Reed said the biggest factor behind the city's revitalization is "our emergence as a center for higher education."

In center city, the $73 million, 16-story Harrisburg University of Science and Technology Tower will soon rise at Fourth and Market streets.

Meanwhile, the former Evangelical Press building at Third and Reily streets is being transformed into the midtown campus of Harrisburg Area Community College.

The HACC campus is helping fuel considerable spin-off development in midtown, such as the planned $1 million conversion of the former Police Athletic League building at 1110 N. Third St. into a cultural arts center.

On Tuesday, Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority approved a resolution to sell the city-owned former PAL building to Bartlett, Traynor and London, an investment partnership based in New York City.

The investors hope to complete the PAL project by the end of this year, pending receipt of city permits and approvals, said Paul S. Bahn, a Camp Hill real estate agent representing the partnership.

DAN MILLER: 255-8440 or danmiller@patriot-news.com

[EastSideHBG]

1 hotel, okay. 2, yeah no prob...but 3?!? I just don't get this hotel kick; I have never known anyone who wasn't able to find a room in DT, even on short notice and when large events were taking place. I must admit that I sort of fear saturation at this point.

And again I say, HBG needs some new RESIDENTIAL towers!

5 new restaurants, huh? When, what and where is what I would like to know! :)

[Young Gun]

Not exactly a residential tower but the 8 unit loft conversion that danwxman posted about below is a good start. It is the first of its kind in the city. Towers are a big risk in the city as nobody has done them before. Like the rash of new hotels proposed I think that once there is one project started there will be several to follow.

There are several places near my house that I think would be great locations for a residential tower

[EastSideHBG]

Welcome, Young Gun! :) What locations are you referring to?

[Young Gun]

One location that I think would be prime (although parking for some law offices and the firehouse would be lost) would be the Southwest corner of Liberty and 2nd. It is on the edge of the major DT attractions but still pretty quiet in the evenings even on some of the rowdier weekends. In the southwest corner there is a small parking lot. Next to the parking lot are 2 rundown houses. One of the houses is zoned uninhabitable by the Daulphin County tax office. I think this collection of lots is far enough away from the capital building that you could get a variance to build tall. (somewhere between 14-18 stories) I think onsite parking via a parking garage would be the deciding factor of how tall you could make it. The top floors would have an excellant view of City Isle, River and West Shore.

The second location would be on the SE corner of Locust and 2nd. It is in the heart of resurant row. Next door to Fisaga's. The drawback is the lot is a little small. It too is currently a parking lot.

As far as I am concerned the peice of development that DT Harrisburg needs would be a grocery store to serve the DT, and Midtown areas. That way people wouldn't need to get into cars to leave the city to do shopping. It would help promote getting more retail into the city I think. If the store would have a delivery service for grocery's all the better. I lived in State College for four years and they had 2 small grocery stores. It was really convient and I would stop by them all the time for small items.

Sorry this post got a little long.

[EastSideHBG]

I have been saying that for YEARS re: a grocery store! Why not some of the big empty lots on 6th St. right near DT? If it is done correctly, that whole area will be revitalized with lots of residents who are employed with the feds and want to live close to work (this is assuming the new courthouse gets built in that area of course). They will need a grocery store for sure, and it is close enough for the other DT/Midtown residents.

I agree, the site at 2nd and Locust is a bit small.

Never worry about posts being too long. Young Gun! It is nice to see some new blood around here. :)

[danwxman]

Harrisburg University moving into Strawberry Square
Posted by Dan Miller/The Patriot-News April 04, 2007 15:35PM
Categories: Breaking News, Business, Dauphin County, Education, Midstate

Strawberry Square will become the new, though temporary, home of Harrisburg University under a lease agreement announced today.

President Mel Schiavelli said the university needs more space while awaiting completion of its 16-story academic tower now being built at Fourth and Market streets.

The move also allows for continued growth of Harrisburg School District's SciTech High, which currently shares space with the university at 215 Market St.

HU Executive Vice President Eric Darr said the school will vacate all of the building at 215 Market St. over the summer except for some laboratory space that the university will lease from SciTech High. The university is selling the 215 Market St. building to SciTech High.

The university will lease about 21,000 square feet from Strawberry Square for at least 18 months until the tower is finished at the end of 2008, Schiavelli said. The university also is adding more space to a separate lease in the Harrisburg Transportation Center, expanding from about 4,000 square feet to about 10,000 square feet.

The lease means that up to 300 HU students will begin taking classes in Strawberry Square starting in the fall. The tower being built also will be physically connected to Strawberry Square.

"Our retailers and our customers have been seeing the impact of the university already in the last two years," said Bradley Jones, vice president of Harristown Development Corp., owner of Strawberry Square. "The leasing of additional space will lead to more customer interaction for our tenants. Everyone has been sort of focused on the new building being completed. The university presence is going to be felt much sooner than the actual physical building."

The space Harrisburg University is leasing includes fourth floor office space formerly occupied by an accounting firm, a former copy shop fronting on Market Street and the former Eckerd drug store space, also along Market Street.

[Young Gun]

I drove by the worksite for the tower twice over the weekend on the way to Lowes I wanted to post pics, but I'll have to figure out how. I think the University will really help the business in Strawberry Square over the long term. Has there been any talk how the University will expand after they outgrow their building? The projections I read said they expected to outgrow their space in 10 years. It doesn't look like there will be anything ajacent to the tower unless they have an agreement for the post office.

A quick search of the net turned up nothing

[EastSideHBG]

/\
I heard they were going to acquire the post office's site in the coming years, and the last I heard it was for dorms. There were numerous articles on the subject in the news (heck, probably a few of them are in the earlier pages of this thread) and then the news suddenly stopped and I haven't heard a thing since. :???:

I was in HBG over the weekend, and even made a brief stop on 2nd St. around 11:30 p.m. on Sat. night. I was not impressed with the size of the crowds at all, and truth be told, I found the place to be rather dead compared to the way it used to be. The cold weather? The holiday weekend (although holiday weekends were typically very busy times for HBG)? A few of the locals told me that 2nd St. is "dying". If this is the truth, I could easily see why: those who have been going there year after year are probably getting tired of it and/or their lifestyle is changing, there hasn't been many new things opening up there, and there aren't enough 21-somethings in the area to replace all of those away at school like there used to be, etc.

I dunno, just a theory. I don't live there anymore, just comparing what I saw and heard this weekend with what I used to see every weekend in the past...one weekend in almost a year is hardly a good judge, though, I know...

[Young Gun]

It was dead last weekend compared to the rest of the year. Since I've only been in town about 10 months so I haven't seen a full year cycle. The people around here really don't like the cold and they were all running out of town on Friday. I've found that on most holidays (except st. patty's) the town clears out. Christmas and thanksgiving were terrible. The last warm weekend the bars were packed. It seems like the normal places were empty last weekend and all the college orientated places (Ceolta, Bourbon St. Saloon) were crammed full.

As for the post office all the talk of it dried up. I seem to remember the deal feel though but I couldn't find anything on that, and my memory is often distorted.

[danwxman]

TECHNOLOGY
INNOVATION
INTERSECTION
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
BY DAVID DeKOK
Of The Patriot-News

The Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania is turning one of the city's lesser-known commercial spaces, the Harrisburg Transportation Center, into an innovation incubator for startup technology companies.

Amtrak owns the building at 415 Market St. and uses part of the main floor for its ticket office and passenger waiting area. The bus station is downstairs. Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority leases the rest of the historic building.

"We've got two startups, including Corporate University Xchange," said Kelly Lewis, CEO of the tech council. "We're looking to add more rental space and properties in and around the train station."

Corporate University Xchange, which advises large organizations on how best to develop and manage their talent, was purchased by the Todd family in 2004 and moved from New York City to Harrisburg last year. Susan Todd is the president. Her brother, Alan Todd, the founder of KnowledgePlanet in Mechanicsburg, is the chairman.

Alan Todd left KnowledgePlanet last fall in what was believed to be a falling out with his investors.

KnowledgePlanet sells learning-management software that costs an average $1 million. The software delivers e-learning courses to corporate employees and tracks how well they do.

Lewis and Todd are enthusiastic about turning unused space on the main and second floors of the transportation center into a place where startup technology or tech-service companies can rent cheap space to bring their concepts to market and to interact with other tech people, especially from the nearby Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.

In other words, they would be able to innovate with fewer of the day-to-day hassles tech startup companies often face.

"I sure wish we had an incubator back in 1986 when I started ADT/KnowledgeSoft in my attic in Middletown," Todd said. "I had no access to inexpensive office space, no copier, no voice mail, no accountant, no lawyer and, most importantly, no mentors."

Much of the space in the transportation center has been vacant or under-utilized for years. When Lewis inspected the building in late 2005, the last Tom Ridge campaign office -- from the 1998 gubernatorial campaign -- was still there. The only long-term tenant has been the U.S. Office of Surface Mining on the third floor.

Using money from his regular budget provided by member dues, Lewis initiated extensive renovations of the tech council's office space at the north end of the second floor. That gave the rooms a modern look and up-to-date technical efficiencies. He moved in a year ago.

Lewis' corner office will give him a front-row seat to watch construction this year of the Harrisburg University tower at Market and Fourth streets. Harrisburg University is renting some of the second-floor space, but Lewis has about 2,000 square feet to work with. That will increase when the university moves into its new building.

Corporate University Xchange adjoins the tech council rooms. Another tenant is Wendt Communications, headed by Doug Wendt, former Cumberland County economic development director. He advises startup companies on communications and strategic planning.

The space in the building that gets Lewis really excited is the large, empty rooms on the north end of the main floor. Sporadic attempts have been made to put a fine-dining restaurant in this space, but none of those efforts have come to fruition.

The highlight of this space is a huge window that overlooks the railroad tracks, but the window is so thick that noise from the arriving and departing trains barely registers. Lewis said the main floor area still needs a lot of infrastructure work, but he envisions adding it to the incubator.

Lewis' plans include the possibility of expanding the incubator into the block of buildings on the east side of South Fourth Street between Market and Chestnut streets, including the historic Zion Lutheran Church and the Alva Restaurant.

However, the Rev. Michael Heckathorn, pastor of Zion Lutheran Church, said the church is not for sale. He said sale of the church was included as one option in a long-range planning study conducted by the 400-member church, where the congregation has been slipping.

"There's nothing to it," Heckathorn said.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed said the city would oppose any redevelopment plan that called for demolition of the church and would reserve judgment on less drastic plans. He noted that two U.S. presidents -- the ill-fated William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia a month into his term, and John Tyler, who succeeded him -- were nominated at the Whig Party convention held in the church in 1840.

The church is on the National Register of Historic Places, but that provides a level of protection only if a redevelopment project includes federal money. Even that does not provide automatic exemption from change or demolition, only a required level of review.

Todd said he hopes the downtown technology hub, no matter which buildings it ultimately encompasses, can be part of a general rebranding of the Harrisburg region as a technology hub recognized around the world.

"It's a relevant part of why I'm downtown at the train station building a global technology company and why I'm on the boards of places like Harrisburg University or the tech council," he said.

DAVID DeKOK: 255-8173 or ddekok@patriot-news.com

[Xeelee]

Hrm...

[EastSideHBG]

It was dead last weekend compared to the rest of the year. Since I've only been in town about 10 months so I haven't seen a full year cycle. The people around here really don't like the cold and they were all running out of town on Friday. I've found that on most holidays (except st. patty's) the town clears out. Christmas and thanksgiving were terrible. The last warm weekend the bars were packed. It seems like the normal places were empty last weekend and all the college orientated places (Ceolta, Bourbon St. Saloon) were crammed full.
Yeah I was guessing the holiday had something to do with it. It was still interesting to hear what some locals had to say about DT "dying", though.

[Young Gun]

I sure hope DT isn't dying, I do know the attitude of many people my age is that Harrisburg in general isn't big enough for them. Not enough to do. Many that say such a thing have come from the Philly or Pittsburgh area.

I grew up in a much smaller town so Harrisburg (at the moment) is good for me. Prices are cheap so I can own my own home. Traffic is excellent barring the York Split-19th Street section of I-83 at rush hour. Crime is low. That being said a list of the things The DT needs to improve it

-Grocery store/corner markets
-A coffee shop outside of Strawberry Sq. (Maybe the Sensei Cafe near my house is a shop if it ever opens: 614 N. 2nd)
-Late night food besides pizza (why does Dunken Donuts close at 9pm on weekends?)
-Taller buildings
-Fast food resturants (if there could be a McDonalds on Times Sq. why isn't ther one somewhere near downtown?)
-High end condominiums (hopefully the loft project will usher in new development)
-Movie theatre that shows more than independant films

In the last 3 months there seems to be a wait and see attitude to development and real estate in Harrisburg. I think many are waiting to see if WCI midtown project will be successful, and what the general housing slump has done to the area. I will say that the property values continue to hold in Harrisburg unlike some of the surrounding area. I think this is to due with the shortening supply of cheap houses. Many of the bargins have been snapped up in the last year as the rundown and dilapidated houses have been bought and flipped. Much of the vacancy's left from the 70's are largely gone. Just my .02

*edited to add to my wish list

[Young Gun]

Forgot to add this into the last post.

The buildings on the corner of State and 2nd have now been condemmed and postings for the tennants to move out. It seems that the custom furniture maker "Chocquette" (sp.) is moving a little farther downtown into an open store front. Looks like he'll actually have more floor space, but I'm not sure. Its good to see the Aloft Hotel project moving forward.

[danwxman]

Have you checked out the midtown cinema? They show some independent films. It's not a big venue, but it's a nice place that supports some movies you won't see anywhere else outside of the big cities. There's also a coffee shop inside... And speaking of coffee shops, Java's Brewin opened up on 3rd street just north of strawberry square, the place looks really nice inside but I haven't been in yet.

[danwxman]

About the student housing, yes I think the Post Office deal fell through. It's kind of an eye-sore for market street though, and it'd be great if it moved somewhere else, like to Cameron street. The whole Market street corridor from 6th to Cameron is kind of gross right now, and it needs an uplift. If there is any place that could use some streetscape or "antique style lighting" bullshit it's that stretch. Hopefully with the loft project across the street that area will improve.

Anyway, back to the student housing thing, I thought this was interesting in the Mayor's State of the City address:
"Later this month, the City will issue the Request for Proposals for up to 350 units of student housing on land that has been assembled for this purpose."

I wonder what this land is, and if this is related to HU or HACC?

[EastSideHBG]

Young Gun, unfortunately crime is NOT low at all! I remember reading an article earlier this year stating that HBG even made the "one of the most violent cities in America" list last year (remember: stats are compiled per capita). Heck, I can tell you countless personal stories.

That being said a list of the things The DT needs to improve it

-Grocery store/corner markets
-A coffee shop outside of Strawberry Sq. (Maybe the Sensei Cafe near my house is a shop if it ever opens: 614 N. 2nd)
-Late night food besides pizza (why does Dunken Donuts close at 9pm on weekends?)
-Taller buildings
-Fast food resturants (if there could be a McDonalds on Times Sq. why isn't ther one somewhere near downtown?)
-High end condominiums (hopefully the loft project will usher in new development)
-Movie theatre that shows more than independant films

In the last 3 months there seems to be a wait and see attitude to development and real estate in Harrisburg. I think many are waiting to see if WCI midtown project will be successful, and what the general housing slump has done to the area. I will say that the property values continue to hold in Harrisburg unlike some of the surrounding area. I think this is to due with the shortening supply of cheap houses. Many of the bargins have been snapped up in the last year as the rundown and dilapidated houses have been bought and flipped. Much of the vacancy's left from the 70's are largely gone. Just my .02

*edited to add to my wish list
That's a very good list and many of the things on there I have said for years. I think DT Harrisburg is not a bad place at all, and it is LIGHT YEARS away from what it used to be. But with that being said, there is an awful lot of wasted potential IMO. Also, many of the Mayor's bigger projects seem to be a lot of hot air and you don't see any action until many, many years down the road (if at all). The Southern Gateway project is a great recent example, and cities like Atlanta, Denver, etc., would have that up and running already. But in HBG, it is anyone's guess if it will ever happen...

RE: the "dying" comment, I think many people feel the nightlife is stagnant and it is not the draw it used to be as new things open up across the metro (or in other towns like York for example) and lure people away. I would have to agree *to a point* with the people who say such things, as I think the nightlife in HBG, while okay, is no where near what it used to be.

[Young Gun]

Yet more problems for the incinerator. Will it never end?

Link (http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1177295106198010.xml&coll=1)

The steam has gone out of Harrisburg's troubled trash incinerator.

In another setback for the recently renovated plant, the incinerator has lost its ability to sell steam to its sole customer, NRG Energy Center of Harrisburg.

The plant's steam sales ceased March 23, when a line connecting the incinerator to NRG sprung a leak and had to be closed indefinitely.


On another note can the city get some of its money back since the renovation company (Barlow Projects Inc) didn't complete the contract?

[Young Gun]

A second unrelated item.

I got a letter in the mail last week from MidState Property Group. The same people involved in the Midtown restorations. They wish to buy my multi unit. I spoke with them yesterday evening and they told me that they sent out over 500 letters next week to owners of properties.

Interesting and exciting stuff, except that I was looking at buy additional properties in the coming year. It looks like this demand will drive up property and rental prices.

[danwxman]

Major development project announced for midtown Harrisburg
Posted by The Patriot-News April 25, 2007 14:21PM
Categories: Breaking News, Business, Dauphin County, Local government, Midstate, Patriot-News, Politics

A "master plan" to revitalize a 12-acre area of midtown Harrisburg along Reily Street between North Second and North Sixth streets was unveiled today.

The effort builds on the already planned $17 million renovation of the former Evangelical Press Building at North Third and Reily streets, which will be the new home of the Harrisburg Area Community College Midtown Campus.

Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed said the combination of rehabilitation, new construction and landscaping will transform the mostly vacant area into "a hub for investment and activity" that is expected to spur revitalization throughout the Third Street Corridor.

Reed noted that the plan also calls for the development of an urban green space, or "Urban Meadow," that stretches from the east side entrance of the new HACC classroom space in the former Evangelical Press Building to the college's existing Community Center for Technology and Arts at North Fourth and Harris streets, a facility also slated for a major upgrade.

The greenway will be landscaped with plantings, benches and other amenities that will provide students with public open space that also serves as a college commons, he said.

In making the announcement, Reed was joined by John Tierney, chief operating officer of Powers Associates, which is handling the rehab of the Evangelical Press Building.

"While the city is a partner in the effort and has provided substantial tracts of land and infrastructure support, most of the costs for the buildings being built or planned are from private dollars," Reed said. "It's a marked change from many other city development activities over the past twenty-five years, and tangible proof that public investment can attract significant amounts of private capital investment."

[danwxman]

Developer maps midtown growth
Thursday, April 26, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The ongoing renaissance of Harrisburg's midtown would surge under plans for as many as three public parking garages and up to 300 units of student housing.

The sweeping rehabilitation, which could result in more than 1 million square feet of new building space, would be guided by a comprehensive development plan unveiled yesterday.

The plan, paid for by the chief developer of the neighborhood, Powers & Associates of Harrisburg, would augment the work already planned or under way in order to remake the midtown as an academic, commercial, residential and retail center, officials said.
Advertisement

"The Midtown Master Plan transforms an entire sector of the city and shall serve as the long-term blueprint to guide its further development," Mayor Stephen R. Reed said yesterday.

Powers & Associates is renovating a building at Third and Reily streets as part of a $14 million, 125,000-square-foot project that is to house the Harrisburg Area Community College's building and trade programs.

That building is expected to draw 2,500 students to the midtown daily beginning in the fall.

The company also is building an $11 million, 65,000-square-foot office and retail complex at 1426 N. Third St. to be known as Campus Square.

Taken together, the two projects will form the heart of what is envisioned as a mixed-use campus square. It would include an "Urban Meadow" greenway stretching from Third and Reily to HACC's existing Community Center for Technology and Arts at Fourth and Harris streets.

The master plan would augment those projects and guide growth in the area into the future, said John Tierney, Powers & Associates' chief operating officer.

The expansion of HACC's midtown campus is driving the need for parking in the area, officials said.

A study commissioned by the Harrisburg Parking Authority showed a need for as many as 1,200 parking spaces in the area. Most city parking garage projects tend to be about 800 spaces and typically cost about $15,000 per parking space to build.

Reed said yesterday that a site for the first garage has been chosen and a total of three garages eventually could be built in the area, depending on the pace of development.

Reed said the garages would include first floors built for office or retail use, with parking on upper floors.

To house the students expected to flock to the area, Reed said the city would issue a request for proposals from private companies to build and lease as many as 300 apartment units for students in the area.

Reed predicted that the combination of rehabilitation, construction and landscaping will transform a mostly vacant and long under-used 12-acre area into what Reed called "a hub for investment and activity" that he said could spur revitalization throughout the Third Street corridor.

That same area could benefit from a $100 million federal courthouse project, the site for which is expected to be chosen by the federal government late this year. A lot at Sixth and Reily streets is among 10 alternative sites for the project.

"If the courthouse site is added ... it would rapidly advance the timetable for the construction and utilization of this space," Reed said.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

ABOUT THE PLAN

The area for development is bounded by Susquehanna Street east to North Sixth Street and Reily Street north to Harris Street.

--------------------------

I was kind of worried about the prospects of parking garages in midtown, it would really ruin the character (especially the way they build parking garages in this city) but if they would include ground-floor retail/office then it wouldn't be so bad.

[danwxman]

Science center pushes themes
Harsco to expand for more traveling exhibits
Thursday, April 26, 2007
BY DAVID N. DUNKLE
Of The Patriot-News

Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts will spend $4 million to make science more family-friendly.

The board of directors for the downtown Harrisburg cultural center yesterday approved a four-year plan to upgrade Harsco Science Center.

Plans call for doubling the space available for popular traveling exhibits, creating themed areas, and making amenities such as elevators and rest rooms more accessible.

"The group we really want to attract is the typical family, with parents and children coming here together," said Whitaker CEO and President Michael L. Hanes. "To do that, we have to provide a meaningful experience for young and old."

Hanes, who took over as the head of Whitaker in January, said attendance at the two-story science center has been declining gradually in the last several years. He attributed that, at least in part, to the static nature of the science center, which might discourage repeat visits.

Work is expected to begin this year on the creation of Kidsmart, an exhibit area aimed at preschoolers. It will cost $500,000 to $600,000, Hanes said.

Other themed areas will follow: Forces of Nature, Carnival of Health, Backstage Science and Move It.

"There is nothing more important we can do at this point," board President Kristen Olewine Milke said of the first significant upgrade for the science center since Whitaker opened almost eight years ago.

"Science and technology keep changing," said Milke, who headed the committee that developed the renovation plan. "It's imperative that we upgrade in order to provide a better guest experience."

Money for the project will come from the center's ongoing $10 million Excellence and Innovation campaign at the arts and science center, which also features a 660-seat performance theater and an IMAX theater.

"If we do this right," Hanes said, "we are starting a cycle that won't end."

By the time the science center is completed, the amount of space available for traveling exhibits will have doubled, to 5,000 square feet.

Hanes said the space will not be enclosed, allowing room to expand or contract depending on the needs of a particular exhibit.

Stephen Bishop, vice president in charge of the science center, said traveling exhibits are an important draw. For example, more than 52,000 people saw Whitaker's Titanic exhibit in the summer of 2005.

Changes will be staggered over a period of years in order to keep the science center operational throughout the project. Hanes and Milke said no increase in admission prices is planned as a result of the renovations.

Bishop said only about half of what's currently in the science center will be replaced. "We are keeping the best of what we have and integrating it into the new scheme," he said.

DAVID N. DUNKLE: 255-8266 or daviddunkle@patriot-news.com

[EastSideHBG]

My sister just moved into Midtown (Harris St.). I totally advised against it because I know what that neighborhood is like but she is banking on this renaissance. Her first week there someone was shot right near her apt...

Midtown has lots of potential, but they are going to need to get extremely aggressive on the crime problems.

And another issue I have with all of this is that this is HACC for crying out loud. Don't mistake what I mean here: HACC is a FANTASTIC school and definitely a jewel of the region. What I am getting at here is that I am scratching my head over this whole thing because the main campus is very close, so is there really a need for this one? Also, this is not a 4-yr. school, it won't be a huge campus, etc., so the draw for housing will not be there either...what is it really going to solve?!? So HBG gets more goofy parking garages, and like danwxman said, risk losing some of the Midtown character. Wow, what a renaissance...

In typical Harrisburg fashion, I think this will be a lot of hype, not well thought out and it will end very short on actual delivery.

[Young Gun]

Midtown is nice, but you gotta live south of Granit Street, That give you a good block between yourself and the badness. Is that why you weren't here on the boards, because you were moving your sister?

[EastSideHBG]

Midtown is nice, but you gotta live south of Granit Street, That give you a good block between yourself and the badness. Is that why you weren't here on the boards, because you were moving your sister?
No I couldn't go back to HBG to help because of my work schedule. She had enough hands and got moved okay, though, so I didn't feel too bad about it. ;)

And I'll be brutally honest here: now that I have left Harrisburg, I make it a point to go back there as little as possible. And when I am "forced" to go back, I feel even more out of place than I did when I lived there and I want to leave within 5 min. There are some places you jive with and some you just don't. For me, HBG has always fallen in the "don't" category. :whip: Yes there are some great things about it and yes I made my own fun, but at the end of the day, it just wasn't for me...

[maudibjr]

Did the city sell there minor league team.

I've only been to harrisburg a few times but it seamed nice. Got a big honking sanwich on some place on 2nd st.

[EastSideHBG]

Did the city sell there minor league team.
Cal Ripken's company was going to purchase it recently but I heard that they backed out because Harrisburg wants whoever buys it to agree to keeping the team in HBG for at least 10 years. The Senators are still up for sale and I don't know what is going on with them. It's a sad situation, as they are in desperate need of a new stadium but I don't see them getting it anytime soon.

I've only been to harrisburg a few times but it seamed nice.
It does have its charms for sure and if you are looking for a decent medium-sized metro, it's definitely one of the better choices IMO. But I grew up there and am very bored with it, and it is and has always been way too small for my tastes.

Got a big honking sanwich on some place on 2nd st.
I am guessing you are referring to The Spot restaurant, as they are known for their huge (and very tasty) sandwiches. :)

And I see that you are in Baltimore, maudibjr. That was my second home growing up and I almost moved there last year before the opportunities came up in Philly. I still have a very deep fondness for Baltimore and could see myself living there for sure.

Oh and I am a Ravens' fan too btw. :tup:

[danwxman]

Barnes & Noble is coming to the Harrisburg Mall
The owner of the Harrisburg Mall has pulled in a lease for a 30,000-square-foot Barnes & Noble book store, which will include a Starbucks café. Construction of the store will begin over the next few months. The store, which will flank the mall’s main entrance, should open during the first half of 2008.

“This is the cornerstone element of several tenants that are going to form what we refer to as a streetscape out in front of the mall,” said Larry Feldman, chairman and chief executive officer of New York-based Feldman Mall Properties Inc., which owns the mall.

The streetscape will include the existing Bass Pro Shops store entrance, the Barnes & Noble entrance, an entrance to the movie theater that is under construction and about three restaurants. Most of the stores with outdoor entrances will be internally connected to the mall, Feldman said.

Harrisburg Mall plans to announce seven or eight new leases, some of which will supplement the streetscape, over the next few months. - Jessica Bair

[danwxman]

Editorial in Patriot-News:
Midtown's promise
Signs of progress seen within city region
Monday, April 30, 2007

Revitalization of Harrisburg's Midtown section has been a long-time promise, but one slow to reach fulfillment.

There are new signs of progress, however. Spurred by expansion of Harrisburg Area Community College into a building it is renovating at Third and Reily streets, city developer Powers & Associates has unveiled a blueprint for a commercial, retail and residential complex that would make Midtown a Harrisburg attraction all its own.

The plan includes three parking garages to provide spaces for the 2,500 students expected to enroll in HACC's building trades classes in the Third and Reily building. And the city will seek proposals to build up to 300 apartments for full-time students, according to Mayor Stephen R. Reed.

The linchpin for a new Midtown, of course, would be a new federal courthouse, a $100 million project with which the U.S. General Services Administration has been grappling for nearly three years. The holdup is site selection: GSA originally picked one that would have required relocation of scores of residents of subsidized apartments. It caused such a community uproar that the agency reopened its search. The city is pushing a site at Sixth and Reily that is one of 11 on GSA's list of possibilities.

We have written here before that the federal government's construction projects ought to be helping communities, rather than hurting them by displacing residents or businesses. This time, at Sixth and Reily, GSA could make Harrisburg's renaissance a certainty by assuring that a neighborhood once given up for dead has been reborn.

[EastSideHBG]

RIP, Kevin. :no:


Former LB Kevin Mitchell dies at 36

By Associated Press
Mon Apr 30, 10:20 PM

ASHBURN, Va. - Former NFL linebacker Kevin Mitchell died in his sleep at the age of 36.

Mitchell died overnight Sunday at his home in Ashburn, near the Washington Redskins' training facility, according to the team. An autopsy was performed Monday by the Virginia state medical examiner's office. The cause of death was not immediately announced.

Mitchell was drafted in the second round out of Syracuse in 1994 by the San Francisco 49ers, who moved the undersized college defensive lineman to linebacker.

``I was blown away when I heard of Kevin's death,'' 49ers defensive tackle Bryant Young said. ``We were in the same draft class and we always roomed together in training camp and on the road.

``When Kevin left the Niners, we talked periodically. You take for granted that people will be here forever, and I feel bad that we can never have the chance to catch back up with each other. My heart goes out to his wife and family during this devastating time.''

Mitchell played with San Francisco until 1997, then signed with New Orleans (1998-99). He played his final four seasons (2000-03) with the Redskins.

``Anyone who knew him was touched by his smile, joy for life and love of his family,'' Washington owner Dan Snyder said. ``Anyone who ever played with him or against him never forgot it. He earned our deepest respect.''

Mitchell was a graduate of Harrisburg High School in Pennsylvania.

``When we retired his number a couple of years ago, it looked like he could still step on the field,'' Harrisburg High athletic director Kirk Smallwood said.

Relatives told The Patriot-News of Harrisburg that his physique had not changed much since his playing days, when he was listed at 6-foot-1, 260 pounds.

`He had some pains from his playing days - bone spurs and regular stuff. But it wasn't like he retired and blew up to 350,'' said cousin Kenny Mitchell of Lower Paxton Township, Pa. ``He was in good shape; I don't understand it.''

[danwxman]

Mayor unveils mixed-use complex in Harrisburg
Eric Veronikis
Central Penn Business Journal Staff
5/9/2007

Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed unveiled plans today for the construction of Tracy Manor, a $22 million condominium, office, restaurant and parking complex at 1829 N. Front St. The site is home to the historic Tracy Mansion, which dates back to 1918.

York-based Susquehanna Real Estate is developing the project. The mansion will be restored to house a fine-dining restaurant on the first floor and office space on the second floor and new mezzanine floors, Reed said. A seven-story residential building, which will include 37 condominiums, will go up on an adjacent vacant tract, Reed said. A courtyard will connect the restored mansion and condominiums.

The complex will include limited on-site parking and landscaping will be designed to maintain open views of the river, Reed said.

The project includes the construction of 92,000 square feet of space and the restoration of 15,000 square feet, Reed said. Plans must still pass through the city’s review and approval process. Reed expects ground to be broken by this fall. Construction should take about 16 months, Reed said.

[EastSideHBG]

Plans must still pass through the city’s review and approval process.
And there's the catch right there LOL

Well since they aren't planning to demolish anything, maybe there won't be an issue. And here's to hoping that the NIMBYs don't crawl out of the woodwork and start screaming about the views that will be blocked by a 7-story bldg. :cheers:

[Young Gun]

I don't think anyone will be coming out of the woodwork for this project. I remember hearing of it a couple months back and nobody stood up against it then. In fact if memory serves me right it is documented several pages back in this thread.

The fact is it is a beautiful building that is going to waste in its present condition. That and a 7 story building isn't really that tall. It will look better than the cracked parking lot there now and it will bring a little bit of height to that section of town which will be a nice thing. Once sections of town start to fill up with taller buildings maybe we can get actual tall buildings constructed.

It will be hard to get anything taller than the Aloft hotel built within several blocks of the capital because they want to keep the view/preserve historic buildings etc. I think this project is what the city needs. There aren't any luxury condo in the city now to my knowledge. 37 isn't a large number so it don't think it would saturate the market at this point in time, and half a million for a river view is a nice chunk of change. It should set a president that will allow rent and property values to increase in the general area. I think we can all agree that is good for midtown.

[danwxman]

HARRISBURG UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
THE 1ST CLASS
Friday, May 11, 2007
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Courtney Smith enrolled because she couldn't hack the commute to Shippensburg University, not with an infant son to care for at home.

Farah Jabeen saw the startup university in Harrisburg as the perfect stepping-stone between community college and medical school as she journeyed to become her family's first doctor.

For Nicholas May, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology was virtually the only way to squeeze graduate school into his 60-hour work week.

And Joshua Easter just wanted a chance to grow along with the upstart university -- and maybe even help write some of the rules in the process.

"We hit many bumps in the road, but with the help of the administration, the students were allowed to help shape the school into what it is today," Easter said. "I am glad that I was able to help mold the school into a place where future students can learn and grow as I did."

Harrisburg University and its first class of nine graduates will achieve a milestone tonight, when the 2-year-old university holds its inaugural commencement at The State Museum.

"I look at it as we are making history," university spokesman Steve Infanti said. "It's really an achievement of the students and an achievement of the community. They all took the chance of coming to a new university, and now their names will always be included in the history of the university."

Since Harrisburg University has been around for only two years, the eight four-year graduates all came from somewhere else. In most cases, they transferred credits from two-year schools, such as Harrisburg Area Community College.

What clicked for each of them at the emerging Harrisburg University was the chance to customize their education -- with hours; location; majors; internships; and lots of attention, assistance and mentoring -- in order to make the college experience more about them.

For Meredith McNutt, you just couldn't beat the small-campus atmosphere and the 7-1 teacher-student ratio. All of that personal attention, along with the university's local corporate connections, helped her land an internship at GeoDecisions, a subsidiary of Gannett Fleming Corp., in Camp Hill.

McNutt not only got to apply her GIS computer mapping skills, she ended up landing a full-time post-college job there.

"The fact that the university has a corporate faculty was the reason I got that internship, and it's the reason I received a job at GeoDecisions," she said.

For Smith, Harrisburg University might have been the reason she was getting her degree at all.

While Shippensburg offered one of the best biology programs in the area, the commute of more than an hour each way was a killer, especially with a baby at home. The class schedule wasn't flexible enough to juggle both.

At Harrisburg University, officials practically bent over backward to accommodate her, Smith said.

"I came in, checked it out, and it seemed like a perfect fit," she said. "They seem to cater quite a bit, and you are consistently encouraged to give feedback."

May has the distinction of being the university's first master's recipient.

He didn't choose Harrisburg U to break ground. With his 60-hour-a-week job as a budget analyst at Highmark Medicare Services, it was more a matter of necessity.

Only now does the achievement sink in.

"Early on, you looked around and you thought, 'Is the university going to be around when I get my degree?'" May said.

"Now, I am so happy to be part of something that's going to be part of Harrisburg for a long time," he said. "Speaking from a student perspective, I think it's going to be one of the best universities around."

Like many college grads, Brian L. Thomas hasn't settled on his next step in life. But he's confident his Harrisburg U degree will give him a solid footing in the technology field.

"I have a foundation that I can grow with," he said.

So does Harrisburg University, which broke ground this year on a $73 million, 16-story academic center at Fourth and Market streets that's expected to carry the university through the next decade.

"It's another step forward from being a startup university to becoming a young university," Infanti said.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

[Evergrey]

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07133/785647-85.stm

Sleepy old Harrisburg a happenin' place today

New clubs, restaurants signal city's remarkable comeback

Sunday, May 13, 2007

By Tracie Mauriello, Post-Gazette Harrisburg Bureau

HARRISBURG -- The martini crowd gathers at Cafe Fresco as college students line up for an Ice T concert at The Dragonfly, theater-goers take in "Steel Magnolias" and wannabe hippies puff hookahs at Skewers, a kabob restaurant sandwiched between an Irish pub and a still vacant storefront.

This is Harrisburg, 2007.

Twenty years ago you'd be more likely to find porn shops and boarded-up buildings here than vibrant clubs, pubs and sidewalk cafes. That was then.

"People are saying how alive Harrisburg is now. They come back and say, 'This isn't the Harrisburg I remember growing up.' It's a vibrant city," said Jeff Murison, executive director of the Downtown Improvement District.

Built on the east shore of the wide, shallow Susquehanna River, the capital city was one of the first industrialized cities in the Northeast and played a critical role in American history as a stopping place on the Underground Railroad, a Civil War trading post and home to the Whig convention that nominated William Henry Harrison for president in 1839.

Harrisburg has long been a city abuzz during daylight hours when elected officials, government workers, lobbyists and lawyers are conducting business.

More recently, it's become a place where you can take in a minor-league ball game after work, sample sushi, see an IMAX movie, take a painting class and dance the night away, all within walking distance of downtown.

Hop in a car or call a cab to visit the National Fire Museum, Wildwood Lake Sanctuary or the National Civil War Museum, which opened six years ago and already has a reputation for its evenhanded treatment of the Union and the Confederacy.

"It's a small city that has a lot going for it," Mr. Murison said. "The negative is that people don't know it."


Successful balance

Entertainment, recreation and history are only a few of the puzzle pieces put together over two decades to produce Harrisburg's revitalization.

"To have a really good, vibrant downtown there has to be a healthy balance of all services and activities and opportunities people are looking for. You need places to work and be successful, interesting and convenient places to live, a healthy variety of nightlife, arts and culture, retail and amenities like parks," Mr. Murison said. "Harrisburg excels at nearly all of that."

Harrisburg has been especially successful at attracting the food-and-beverage industry, arts ventures and the education sector, where the newest project, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, opened last year in temporary quarters while its 16-story classroom building is under construction.

Only the retail sector is lacking, say residents, developers and business owners. There are few options for grocery shopping downtown and only one chain clothing store, Dress Barn.

"There are a few little specialty shops but not many," said businessman Ron Kamionka, who owns several Harrisburg businesses including pubs, a new diner and Hardware Bar, the city's hottest club, where scantily clad women dance on the bar Coyote Ugly-style.

More retail would help draw more customers to all downtown businesses, Mr. Kamionka said.

That will come eventually, said Mayor Stephen Reed, who is widely credited with orchestrating the city's rebirth.

"Retail is the last thing to happen. You can't bring about urban renewal by starting with retail. No. That's the last thing that comes into place," Mr. Reed said. "First you have to have more homes, more jobs and more activities taking place."

Mr. Reed says he knew that from the start.

He laid out his aggressive redevelopment plan as soon as he took office in 1982, standing up to pessimists who said mid-sized cities were lost causes.

"People said I was crazy with these big, bold, daring goals ... but I always believed in what [poet] Robert Browning said: that a person's reach should exceed his grasp. That's true for cities, too," he said. "We're proving the viability of American cities."


A 'happening' place

Redevelopment began with Strawberry Square, a complex of retail stores, small eateries and office spaces completed in 1988.

Next came the four-star Hilton Hotel, the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts and the addition of parking garages, which made downtown a viable location for Stocks on Second, an eatery that kicked off the establishment of an area now known as Restaurant Row.

"It's been a long and determined course of economic development," said Brad Jones, vice president of commercial development for Harristown Development Corp., which was involved in the Strawberry Square, Hilton, Whitaker Center and other projects.

"The table has been set by all these determined efforts to build a critical mass and get to a tipping point, specifically for the food and beverage industry," he said.

Then came Harrisburg Young Professionals, a network of energetic and civic-minded residents that came together in 2004 with an eye toward making the city livable for the white-collar crowd.

"The group flourished very quickly and its members became the patrons for a lot of the downtown businesses," Mr. Jones said. "That helped the continued restaurant boom."

A recent addition is the restaurant Bricco, a collaboration between the Hilton Hotel and Harrisburg Area Community College's culinary department, whose students operate the business and use its kitchen as a real-world classroom. On the upper floors is International House, an 86-bed dormitory for foreign and American students interning at the Capitol or attending college in the city.

In all, 16 new restaurants opened last year, including The Quarter with its Cajun-style frogs legs, 405 Jazz on Walnut with its groovy jams, and Tom Sawyer Diner and Entertainment Complex with its outdoor pool table and fire pits that patrons gather around on cool evenings.

"There are more things opening right before your eyes. It's a happening place now. Harrisburg is upgrading itself," said longtime resident Richard Hadley, 31, during a break from a bike ride around City Island, Harrisburg's centerpiece park and home to the Senators, farm team to the National League Washington Nationals; and the City Islanders semi-professional soccer team.

The island had been overgrown and unused until 1987. That's when the city began converting it into a social hub with batting cages, a video arcade, a miniature golf course, two ice cream stands, a small beach, sand volleyball courts, a carousel, a kiddie train, a stable providing horse-drawn carriage rides and a riverboat offering murder-mystery dinner cruises on the Susquehanna.

"There's a lot to do here now," Mr. Hadley said. "There's a lot going on all over Harrisburg."

The city is home to two micro-breweries, five gay bars, a four-star hotel, high-end metropolitan restaurants, a planetarium, two swimming pools, five professional sports teams, a symphony orchestra, a ballet company, several theater companies, a 20-mile greenbelt and the area's No. 1 tourist attraction, the Capitol, where people come from all corners of the globe to view its 277-foot-high gold-leafed rotunda, stained-glass windows, marble staircase and Violet Oakley murals.

Harrisburg has a lot to offer, and it's frustrating to Mr. Reed that outsiders don't know it.


Then and now

When Mr. Reed became mayor in 1983, it was a rundown industrial city that hadn't fully recovered from the devastation of Hurricane Agnes in 1972. By 1981, the federal government named it the second-most distressed city in America. Only East St. Louis, still troubled today, had a worse rating.

The federal government shut down Harrisburg's access to community-development grants because the city's bookkeeping was so bad. Downtown had more vacant storefronts than occupied ones. A new city hall had just been built, but there was no money to pay the construction bills.

"This city was in bad shape," said Brian Long, who operates Broad Street Market in the Midtown section. "It used to be filled with so much bad element -- drugs, prostitution and pornography."

Fast forward to now.

Midtown now is a diverse, up-and-coming neighborhood renowned for its collection of used-book stores, galleries and charming row houses.

Nearby, there is the affluent and picturesque Shipoke neighborhood with its Queen Anne-style homes and river views.

In another part of town, the Pennsylvania Farm Show complex is home to the nation's largest agriculture exposition. When the grounds aren't full of farm animals, the complex plays host to gubernatorial balls, flea markets, dog shows, boat shows, the Pennsylvania Garden Expo, cheerleading competitions and other events. Recently, it hosted the Eastern National Antique Show, an alpaca show and a rodeo -- all in the same weekend.

Downtown's Riverfront Park heats up between Memorial Day weekend's Greater Harrisburg ArtsFest and Labor Day weekend's Kipona, a food and music festival marking the end of summer. In between, there's the Susquehanna River Celebration, Harrisburg Symphony's annual concert aboard a barge, the Pride Festival of Central Pennsylvania and the American MusicFest, which last year closed with fireworks and a Beach Boys concert.

Reservoir Park, the highest point in the city, includes a band shell and four stand-alone studios that make up an artists' colony where the Harrisburg Art Association holds pottery and sculpture classes. The park also hosts annual Shakespeare in the Park performances, the African-American Family Festival, the Women's Music Festival, a Reggae Festival, talent contests, outdoor movies and the city's annual Easter egg hunt.

"This is a new day in Harrisburg," Mr. Murison said. "This is a modern state capital that rivals any city in the region."

Dominic Nacci, 20, who moved from Moon to attend Harrisburg University, wouldn't go quite that far, but still he's glad he chose the capital city for college.

"It feels like a slow small city," he said. "I'm used to Pittsburgh," which, recently was named America's most livable city by "Places Rated Almanac."

Justin Dickson, formerly of Dormont, who also moved to the capital to attend school, has a different impression.

"It's a lot better than I thought it would be. It's not too big, but it's definitely lively," Mr. Dickson said between customers at the swanky Cafe Fresco, where he tends bar when he isn't taking classes at Harrisburg Area Community College.

"When I said I was coming here, people who haven't been here recently were like, 'Why are you going to Harrisburg? It's a dump.' So I didn't have very high expectations," he said.

"There's a lot here. You can go to Ceoltas [Irish pub] for dinner and then go dancing or hang out," he said. "I do wish it was a little bigger. It's a small city."

Harrisburg used to be home to nearly 90,000, according to the U.S. Census. That was in 1950 before white flight sent many residents to the suburbs. It was also before the 22 percent population drop that followed Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

Population now is 49,000, according to the latest census, showing that redevelopment efforts have slowed, but not stemmed the migration.

"We have a human scale," Mr. Reed said. "We're a size where people make a difference. Here, you're not a faceless number amid a mass of humanity."


A constant struggle

Still, Mr. Reed wants more growth.

Already, there are plans for a 3-million-square-foot office complex, two boutique hotels, a $100 million federal courthouse, three luxury condominium complexes, a new classroom building for Messiah College's Harrisburg Institute, an expansion of Harrisburg Area Community College's midtown campus and more.

"We're in a big period of growth now. We're in a boom period," Mr. Reed said.

"We could rapidly accelerate the pace here with more resources," he said. "We do not lack ideas or the will to carry them out. The vision, the will and the spirit are all in place. "

Mr. Reed is determined to keep Harrisburg well positioned for the future.

"It's a constant struggle. You've got to be constantly struggling to advance the city's progress or it will regress," he said. "If you're not fighting to move forward, all the other forces and factors will force you backward."




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Tracie Mauriello can be reached at tmauriello@post-gazette.com or 717-787-2141. )

SLIDESHOW:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07133/785286-85.stm

[EastSideHBG]

Nearby, there is the affluent and picturesque Shipoke neighborhood with its Queen Anne-style homes and river views.
That's where I lived before I moved here to the Philly area. I do miss it quite a bit, as it is a very charming neighborhood, very close to the river, downtown and all of the riverfront events were at your doorstep...

"I do wish it was a little bigger. It's a small city."
That is definitely me too and exactly why I couldn't stay.

Great article, Evergrey, thanks! :)

[Young Gun]

It would be quite nice if the city was 90,000 but where would you put everybody? I know there are still a lot of vacant properties in the city, but I don't think you could comfortable put another 41,000 people, not without a lot of new construction. I guess population density was much higher. In my building we have 3 people living in 3,000sq. ft. I guess that isn't too efficient.

[EastSideHBG]

No comment...

http://nationalsportshalloffame.net/

[harrisburger]

i think we all know it'll fail.

if they can't get the national african-american museum (or whatever they call it) off the ground, this will never stat. especially with the financial state of the city. and the ballpark was supposed to be done awhile ago, no?
it's hard to get angry at it. it's more of a desperate plea for attention, which i find to be quite charming.

in other news, harrisburg is slowly but surely coming alive this time of year. they're are some wonderful new additions to 2nd st. and beyond, and with the upcoming hacc/harrisburg u. additions, it won't stop anytime soon. the city is brimming with excitement and it is hard to get caught up with stories like these.

[Young Gun]

Surprised no body else posted this... Can you believe the mayor actually made a sound investment? Now the part about renovating the park for $16M is typical Reed.

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/117941370194310.xml&coll=1

Thursday, May 17, 2007
BY ANDREW LINKER
Of The Patriot-News
Twelve years ago, when the city was forced to buy its minor league baseball team or watch it move out of state, Mayor Stephen R. Reed said he had no interest in running the Harrisburg Senators.

Reed said then he would sell the team as soon as possible.

Yesterday, he finally did, agreeing to turn over the city's Class AA Eastern League team to the son of Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf for $13.25 million -- nearly twice what the city paid for it after the 1995 season.

[EastSideHBG]

Surprised no body else posted this... Can you believe the mayor actually made a sound investment? Now the part about renovating the park for $16M is typical Reed.

http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnews/stories/index.ssf?/base/news/117941370194310.xml&coll=1

Thursday, May 17, 2007
BY ANDREW LINKER
Of The Patriot-News
Twelve years ago, when the city was forced to buy its minor league baseball team or watch it move out of state, Mayor Stephen R. Reed said he had no interest in running the Harrisburg Senators.

Reed said then he would sell the team as soon as possible.

Yesterday, he finally did, agreeing to turn over the city's Class AA Eastern League team to the son of Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf for $13.25 million -- nearly twice what the city paid for it after the 1995 season.
Yeah I just heard about this the other day. I'm hoping a new stadium will be built ASAP now too.

[PaSkyX]

Barnes & Noble is coming to the Harrisburg Mall
The owner of the Harrisburg Mall has pulled in a lease for a 30,000-square-foot Barnes & Noble book store, which will include a Starbucks café. Construction of the store will begin over the next few months. The store, which will flank the mall’s main entrance, should open during the first half of 2008.


That's actually amazing. I might have something to do when I come home now, lol. But seriously, I think it's kinda sad that Harrisburg didn't even get a Starbucks until late 2003. I feel the region is just depressingly slow about getting anything done. Not to mention that it suffers from not really having a university closeby, and it lacks any sort of significant art scene. In addition, I'm familiar with those types who go downtown, and really, there's just no attraction for me to ever go anywhere on 2nd street, except perhaps Fisagas, since it's relatively cheap (well, coming from a NYC perspective), and I feel like the food is actually pretty good. In addition, it's relatively easy to get to any big city on a weekend, since Harrisburg really seems in the center of Philly-NYC-Baltimore-DC-Pittsburgh, but I don't think it makes it any more attractive from the standpoint that a large majority of the people who live there are horrifyingly conservative. I guess my main problem with the area is that I feel that it lacks are really strong artistic/intellectual scene, so it sorta nullifies any benefits that relate to it's location and incredibly cheap cost of living.

[EastSideHBG]

That's actually amazing. I might have something to do when I come home now, lol. But seriously, I think it's kinda sad that Harrisburg didn't even get a Starbucks until late 2003. I feel the region is just depressingly slow about getting anything done. Not to mention that it suffers from not really having a university closeby, and it lacks any sort of significant art scene. In addition, I'm familiar with those types who go downtown, and really, there's just no attraction for me to ever go anywhere on 2nd street, except perhaps Fisagas, since it's relatively cheap (well, coming from a NYC perspective), and I feel like the food is actually pretty good. In addition, it's relatively easy to get to any big city on a weekend, since Harrisburg really seems in the center of Philly-NYC-Baltimore-DC-Pittsburgh, but I don't think it makes it any more attractive from the standpoint that a large majority of the people who live there are horrifyingly conservative. I guess my main problem with the area is that I feel that it lacks are really strong artistic/intellectual scene, so it sorta nullifies any benefits that relate to it's location and incredibly cheap cost of living.
I totally agree, PaSkyX. Well with just about everything except for Fisaga, as I am not a fan at all. But I guess this matters not, as it looks like Fisaga in its current form will be no more soon:

http://www.harrisburgnightlife.com/wp/2007/05/15/fisaga-spice/

But yeah, I too don't like how change is so sloooow in the HBG area (if it even happens at all) and how extremely conservative it is; these are the exact reasons I had to get out of there. Many of the people there seem to like it just the way it is and that is completely fine of course, but it was not working for me...

[PaSkyX]

Oh wow, it's going? Eh, it's ok. I don't mind that much, I almost never went downtown.

Many of the people there seem to like it just the way it is and that is completely fine of course, but it was not working for me...

This is soooo true. It's probably what I hate the most though - people are completely comfortable being small-minded - it's like they pride themselves on it or something. ::sigh::, but yeah, it's basically why I'll never move back to the area. I really can't deal with the whole mindset of central PA, and it's beyond frustrating to have to come home to that when I visit my mom.

[Evergrey]

That's too bad... I enjoyed Fisaga and thought it was a pretty cool place for Harrisburg to have. It had that "garage door" wall thing like a year before every other place in the world decided to do it.

[danwxman]

That's actually amazing. I might have something to do when I come home now, lol. But seriously, I think it's kinda sad that Harrisburg didn't even get a Starbucks until late 2003. I feel the region is just depressingly slow about getting anything done. Not to mention that it suffers from not really having a university closeby, and it lacks any sort of significant art scene. In addition, I'm familiar with those types who go downtown, and really, there's just no attraction for me to ever go anywhere on 2nd street, except perhaps Fisagas, since it's relatively cheap (well, coming from a NYC perspective), and I feel like the food is actually pretty good. In addition, it's relatively easy to get to any big city on a weekend, since Harrisburg really seems in the center of Philly-NYC-Baltimore-DC-Pittsburgh, but I don't think it makes it any more attractive from the standpoint that a large majority of the people who live there are horrifyingly conservative. I guess my main problem with the area is that I feel that it lacks are really strong artistic/intellectual scene, so it sorta nullifies any benefits that relate to it's location and incredibly cheap cost of living.

Camp Hill has had a Barnes & Noble for years. I'm actually surprised it has taken this long for one to open up on the east shore, that's kind of been Borders territory. The Harrisburg Mall really needs more high-end stores, and stores to open up their flagship central PA location in the mall. Having a New York and Co. and American Eagle is great but you can get that at all the other malls in the area. Bass Pro Shops is a start but they need a lot more. I think the streetscape project is really interesting and I hope they get some good tenants.

About the people in this area, yes it's majority conservative. THAT is changing. Harrisburg's midtown has always been the liberal enclave of the area, and it has a burgeoning arts scene with a few galleries and bookstores. That will only get better with the opening of the Midtown Arts Center in the old PAL (Police Athletic League) building. I've noticed a distinct change just in the years growing up here. The area is definitely seeing more migration from the bigger cities, and those people are bringing their less conservative values with them. John Kerry was the first Democratic Presidential candidate to make a stop in Harrisburg since Kennedy I believe. It also has to do with what you surround yourself with. All of my friends are liberal and open-minded, and yes we realize we are the minority around here for now....but that's fine.

I will be transferring to Harrisburg University in the fall. After meeting with a lot of the staff and professors (many live in Harrisburg) it's really exciting being a part of Harrisburg's future (and eventually history). Just like ten years ago the city was completely different, I think ten years from now it will be even more different.

[danwxman]

That's too bad... I enjoyed Fisaga and thought it was a pretty cool place for Harrisburg to have. It had that "garage door" wall thing like a year before every other place in the world decided to do it.

I have to admit I've never had a bad experience at Fisaga. The food was decent and service was okay. I just know to stay away from it on weekend nights when the place is packed with wanna-be gangsters and it's impossible to get service at the small bar.

[EastSideHBG]

That's too bad... I enjoyed Fisaga and thought it was a pretty cool place for Harrisburg to have. It had that "garage door" wall thing like a year before every other place in the world decided to do it.
I do have to give it to Fisaga's for that, and the garage door idea was very original and added a lot to the 2nd St. scene.

danwxman, my hat is off to you and I am glad HBG has people like you still there! :) But in a sense you proved our point:

Harrisburg's midtown has always been the liberal enclave of the area...
A few blocks in comparison to an entire region.

Just like ten years ago the city was completely different, I think ten years from now it will be even more different.
Ten years is a VERY long time, other cities can and will do so much more in those ten years, and I found life to be far too short to wait around for what HBG will (may?) be...

And as far as this point goes:

The area is definitely seeing more migration from the bigger cities, and those people are bringing their less conservative values with them.
I too have noticed a lot of people coming from outside of the area and from bigger places (and also people who once lived in HBG, left for a bigger place and are now back) BUT most of those people seem to be families or people ready to start a family. That contributes something to an area of course and it can be a great thing, but there are still many pieces of the puzzle left out. I think HBG should work very hard to attract those other pieces of the puzzle. HBG Univ. and a few of the other projects may help, but so much more needs to be done.

Anyway, I don't want to downplay any of HBG's accomplishments and what is going on there these days, and it will be interesting to see what direction it goes.

EDIT: I also wanted to add a semi-related issue: the cost of living is still a bargain in comparison to some other bigger places close by, but it is FAR from as cheap as it used to be; I am amazed at just how high the prices are there these days. Obviously if you view this with an optimistic lens, this shows the success in the area. But at the same time, HBG is quickly losing one of its strongest competitive points...

[Young Gun]

Hang on cause I'm basically responding to about 6 posts....

The cost of houses in the last year has really gone up. In some areas such as midtown some of the prices have gone up almost 50%. Things move slow in Harrisburg becasue there are still people that remember its bad days. They scruntinize every project cause they think the possibility of failure outweighs that of success.

The success and new money coming into town should go a long way to speed up projects. Now is someone would just building a large towner. I nominate putting it on Alison Hill, buying up the real estate would be a bargin. That neighborhood is starting to feel price increases cause midtown is almost all bought up of cheap houses.

I too have to disagree about Fisaga's I find the food uninspiring and the "feel" of the place is a turn off. Not to mention that the current owner is an idiot. Maybe the new owners will do better. It had been on the market for about $1.5M for approximately a year.

While other's find the city very conservative I've always thought of it as a neutral city wrt politics. Maybe its just my perspective. I know it isn't NYC, but it is much better than the small town I grew up in.

I thought that the idea of a new stadium was a little bit farfetched. The city was going to spend $16M of our money. It says that it has this money set aside. If this is cash on hand why were loans taken out last year? If it is to be borrowed It seems like a poor investment. The new team owners are only going to be paying the city $500k over 29 years, This won't come anywhere close to paying back the city. I love everything Reed has done for the city over the years, but his penchant for funding city development from public coffers sometimes goes a little overboard.

[Evergrey]

I don't understand... I thought Fisaga's felt pretty "urban" and "sophisticated"... especially for a small city like Harrisburg... of course... I was only there once in 2005... the dance floor portion seemed a little thugish/trashy as i recall... but the rest seemed pretty cool... garage door... nice seating/decor... beautiful well-dressed people... didn't try the food...

[PaSkyX]

I understand that perhaps the prices in Harrisburg have gone up, but they're still not "expensive" by any means. To say that would be to insulate yourself to the limitations of central PA. In contrast to a place like NYC, where housing prices have gone through the roof ($1000/mo for a studio on the G train???), Harrisburg is incredibly cheap (as is Philly, for the comparison).

Housing prices aside, the area is still really conservative. Sure, I see some changes when I go home, though not in additudes. It would be great if people became a bit more open-minded, but I'm really not holding my breath.

[Young Gun]

I didn't mean to imply that Harrisburg was expensive. Just that it is loosing the bargin feel. If I was to buy another house it would no longer be just a byline in my monthly budget. It used to be that you could buy a house and your mortage would be around $500-$600 a month for a very nice place imho.


I think in 2005 Fisaga's was still owned by Donnie Brown. He is a good resturanteer. He started many of the successful places on 2nd St. Kokomo's Fisaga's and his latest the Firehouse. He also started Durado's (sp.) on the west shore and in Hershey he just opened up the Fire Alley. He is very particular about the way his establishments are ran.

[EastSideHBG]

I understand that perhaps the prices in Harrisburg have gone up, but they're still not "expensive" by any means. To say that would be to insulate yourself to the limitations of central PA. In contrast to a place like NYC, where housing prices have gone through the roof ($1000/mo for a studio on the G train???), Harrisburg is incredibly cheap (as is Philly, for the comparison).
And hence why I said:

EDIT: I also wanted to add a semi-related issue: the cost of living is still a bargain in comparison to some other bigger places close by, but it is FAR from as cheap as it used to be; I am amazed at just how high the prices are there these days.

You simply cannot and should not compare HBG to NYC (MAYBE Philly, but I feel that is even a stretch) and it should be compared within itself and to the region. There is a reason why NYC is so expensive and HBG doesn't offer a fraction of what NYC has, so of course it will not be priced the same.

[EastSideHBG]

I don't understand... I thought Fisaga's felt pretty "urban" and "sophisticated"... especially for a small city like Harrisburg... of course... I was only there once in 2005... the dance floor portion seemed a little thugish/trashy as i recall... but the rest seemed pretty cool... garage door... nice seating/decor... beautiful well-dressed people... didn't try the food...
Looks wise, it is. But the people, oh, the people... :brickwall:

But I wouldn't expect you to pick up on that, Evergrey, and one would really need to live there to know what type of people frequent the place.

[PaSkyX]

Well, a great question would be - what does NY really have? Ok, so that's really a problem for another thread. I'd really just point out that Harrisburg HAS the potential to be something greater than it is, it just never capitalizes on that. The city's basically a suburban mess (and yes, the city limits are so tiny you really need to factor in the suburbs). I think if the area really tried to build up its mass transit, and worked on attracting young people and foreigners (this is key, they actually go hand and hand), then of course it would be a much better city. Of course, a huge part of the problem (and I feel this goes with a lot of the state as a whole) is that people are happy to leave things the way they are, and actually dislike change. I really wish the city could do things like opening some more bridges up for pedestrian traffic, because the river is probably one of the greatest things about the city.

Oh, and I guess back to prices - I'm not familiar with price increases inside the city limits. I just know that increases in the suburbs have been incredibly tame, to say the least.