An update on the stalled Herr/Cameron Sts. project...as always, take with a grain of salt until you see actual humans on the site doing actual work:
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/ind...itol_view.html
Future looks promising for unfinished office center
by DAN MILLER, Of The Patriot-News
Thursday January 01, 2009, 11:47 PM
When it comes to unfinished development projects in the midstate, the most glaring example could be the Capitol View Commerce Center at Cameron and Herr streets in Harrisburg.
This $28 million office/retail complex was supposed to be finished by fall 2007. Work came to a halt in May 2008 when contractors decided to abandon the job site because they said they had received no payments for months from center developer David R. Dodd II.
But now,
work on the building may be about to resume, as early as mid-January, according to Rick McBride, president of Herre Bros. Inc., an Enola-based contractor that has gone to court to try and collect an estimated $1.3 million in unpaid bills from Dodd.
McBride said he has been told by officials with Quandel Group Inc. that a new investor is about to assume ownership of the project from Dodd and will pay the contractors what they are owed, plus provide sufficient guarantees that they'll receive payments necessary to finish the project.
McBride identified the prospective owner as Jacob Frydman -- the same New York City investor pursuing a deal for a long-term lease of Harrisburg's public parking facilities.
Calls to Frydman were not immediately returned on Wednesday. Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed's office did not respond to a request for comment.
Several sources close to the Capitol View project in recent months have privately identified Frydman as a potential investor in the project.
Quandel, a construction management firm, was hired by Commerce Bank/Harrisburg to do an analysis of the unfinished center. Commerce had pledged to provide $5 million in private bank financing toward construction of the center, which is also receiving funding from the city as well as county, state and federal government sources.
Bub Manning, a principal of the Quandel Group, has said that his company has signed a confidentiality agreement with Commerce that prohibits Quandel from discussing the project publicly.
Herre Bros. is one of three contractors that have a suit pending in Dauphin County Court against Commerce and the city of Harrisburg concerning the center.
A judge several weeks ago ordered a stay in all activity in the suit until sometime this month.
McBride said Herre and the other contractors will not withdraw the suit until they know for certain that they will receive all the money they are owed plus assurances for any future bills related to the project.
"There's obviously an additional cost to complete the project" as a result of the long delay, including the expense involved in getting crews to return to the job site, McBride said. He said he does not know how much more the building will cost to complete.