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WILKES-BARRE - The same firm that constructed housing on North Main Street for King's College students has proposed to build apartments at the Wilkes-Barre YMCA, now known officially as the Y.
David Yeager, president of the Radnor Property Group of Wayne, Delaware County, asked Luzerne County commissioners at a work session Monday to approve an application for a $3.3 million "Recovery Zone Facility" bond allocation to help finance the construction of 20 apartments on the Y's top three floors. Congress created the new type of tax-exempt private bond through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in February 2009. The bonds are not direct grants or appropriations like some stimulus programs. If the applications are approved, the developers would have to obtain the bond funding from the open financial market. The total cost for the project is estimated at $6.73 million, according to the application Yeager submitted. Additional financing will come from tax credits, loans and private equity, according to the application. The commissioners will consider the application for approval and the project could begin later this year, Yeager said. "This is an initial step of a long process," Yeager said. "We're big advocates of community revitalization. We see this is a great opportunity for the YMCA to right-size its facility. We engaged in this public/private partnership so they can optimize their space and become a more efficient facility." The Radnor Property Group also built the $20 million "North Main Street Gateway Project," which involved demolishing the blighted Corcoran Printing and Mary MacIntosh buildings to construct student housing, a restaurant, a day care center, classrooms and King's College offices. The Y committed to work with the Radnor Property Group because it has not been efficient, in a community this size, to use the entire 105,000 square feet of the building, said Jim Thomas, Y executive director. Under the new plan, the Y will use 50,000 to 65,000 square feet of space in the building, which was constructed in 1933. "We would basically provide about 40 percent of our building to this housing initiative. The Y would reduce its space to 60 percent," Thomas said. "It is a such a huge building. This would reduce our footprint in this building. It would help enhance and preserve the building for the future." Seven apartments, housing 21 Wilkes University students, are already located on the fourth floor. The exterior of the historic building will be renovated for the project, Thomas said. Some changes will occur at the Y as a result of the housing addition that will be owned by the Radnor Property Group. Thomas, however, said those changes are still being determined and it is a "little too early to say" what might be eliminated. In another development, the logo at the Y also will change. The national Chicago-based U.S. nonprofit announced Monday it is changing both its logo and its name to just "the Y," its first branding change in 43 years. The switch came after more than two years of research which indicated many people don't understand what the group does. Officials with the Y say they hope the new logo will be more inviting. The group's mission is to strengthen communities by focusing on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. The Wilkes-Barre Y has six months to five years to change its logo on its letterhead, shirts and the building, Thomas said. "The logo is just telling people we've changed some things," Thomas said. "We're doing more and more things out of building and we're focusing more on the community's needs. We're reinventing ourselves a little bit." Michael P. Buffer, staff writer, contributed to this report. |
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