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The plan represents an integral reinvention of EDDC-owned properties along North Park Row, including the creation of a 9,000 square foot fresh produce market.
The Erie Downtown Development Corp. went through a public relations storm last week as the public reacted to the news that the group would not extend the lease agreements for three restaurants due to expire on October 31.
But EDDC, which paid $ 2.95 million in September to buy eight buildings along North Park Row, said its intention was never to maintain the status quo in the neglected buildings facing Perry Square.
"The goal was to create transformational change," said John Persinger, CEO of EDDC.
His organization, built on the backing of $ 27 million from local businesses, universities and non-profit organizations, intends to use these North properties. Park Row to achieve its goal of rebuilding Erie's population and create a sense of energy in downtown Erie.
EDDC's plan – which it is sharing here for the first time – calls for an investment of up to $ 39 million and the creation of what Persinger calls the Erie Culinary Arts District, as well as the construction of 87 apartments and the new design of the buildings facing Perry Square in a complex that would support more than 20 businesses and create more than 240 jobs.
The plan represents a full reinvention of EDDC-owned properties along North Park Row, including the creation of a 9,000 square foot fresh produce market along the west end of the property and building. There is a mixed food hall with nine vendors of local food and a bar served by a communal dining room.
He added that the group expects to announce the participation of a national investor from Opportunity Zone that will allow the project to progress. EDDC is also seeking $ 5 million in state funding through the Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.
The projects also include the construction of a culinary incubator in the basement of the food market, to give entrepreneurs access to commercial kitchen equipment and mentoring, as well as to a clientele. initial. The second floor of this building would be leased to a technology company under the current plan.
The centerpiece of the project has still not been approved by the EDDC Board, but is included in the final project price, estimated at $ 31-39 million, and included in the project descriptions.
These plans include the replacement of the Marlena Place building and the building housing Coconut Joe's and Resolution Night Club with a new brick-and-glass arcade-style building that would connect the grocery market located at the same time. 39th West end of the property at the East End Dining Hall of the property in the last space used by Sherlock's and Park Place.
"It would be an arcade building looking like an old European arcade, with a central courtyard or glass walkway," Persinger said.
He notes that the Coconut Joe building is not an original construction but was built as a bus station to replace the Park Opera House building that burned in the 1930s, creating an opening in the block, behind the disco, that Persinger describes as missing tooth.
Along with other modifications, the construction of a new five-storey building at this location would increase the usable area of the block from about 100,000 to about 147,000.
According to the EDDC plan, the building would include shops and restaurants and could be entered from the market, the food hall, Fifth Street or North Park Row.
The plan presented by Persinger and Matt Wachter, Vice President of Finance and Development at EDDC, and Nicole Reitzell, Vice President of Community Engagement, is articulated around two distinct themes.
The parallel goals are to create a space where people will want to live and come together. The second is that the project would meet the food needs of one of the poorest ZIP codes in the United States, while meeting the needs of its minority communities.
EDDC is attacking these concerns at some length in an outline of its plan which explains that the food market would be open seven days a week and that it would accept the benefits of the program. Additional nutritional assistance.
The plan continues: "Our goal is to reserve and reserve space for members of the minority communities of Erie, New American / refugees, immigrants, veterans and youth."
If it is built as planned, the arcade building will feature seven commercial storefronts at the bottom and 56 to 67 apartments on the upper floors, in addition to fewer apartments on the upper floors of the building. other buildings.
According to EDDC staff, the concept is to bring Erie a smaller scale of what has been done in places such as Smallman Galley in Pittsburgh or Chelsea Market in New York.
"We've heard from other cities we regroup until you break out," said Reitzell. "We will have the opportunity for eight to ten restaurants to operate and serve at high volume, a place where you can buy pizzas, sushi and salads."
The concept of regional restoration is a relatively new concept, but one that is gaining ground, said Wachter.
"We are very excited about this," he said.
He also said that he was excited about the potential economic impact of the project on a poor community.
Persinger said that EDDC had faced a daunting challenge: it was aimed at creating a business and bringing new residents to downtown Erie.
"Will a grocery store want to come here unless there are people here? We are trying to solve this problem," he said.
And he said that he hoped the project would create a sense of excitement in downtown Erie.
"We are not in the culinary industry," he said. "Someone should have done it, but the market has failed here, so we have intensified our efforts, we want to focus those efforts and make Erie's downtown a destination."
"It's a place where people will live, but it's a public space in which people want to walk," said Reitzell, adding that elevators and a separate entrance would create a separate space for visitors and residents .
Persinger said that EDDC would not rely on its own expertise to manage the planned food store and signed an agreement with a local company to manage the facilities.
EDDC also signed contracts with Cleveland-based Richardson Design, who worked for the Cleveland Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Cleveland Children's Museum, and the Skunk & Goat Tavern Tavern in the Northeast.
EDDC critics made their point last week, announcing that the group was exercising withdrawal options for three restaurant leases that were due to expire on Oct. 31.
Persinger said he would like the return of these restaurants, but not until the building was rebuilt, secure and fully accessible.
Despite public criticism, Wachter said he is proud that EDDC is working with displaced restaurant owners to find new homes.
He is also proud of the progress made since the group purchased the North Park Row property in September.
"We took a look at it," he said. "It was not an easy concept to find, how can we use this space just in front of Perry Square to be a real asset to the city? We believe it will be an asset for generations to come."
Jim Martin can be reached at 870-1668 or by email. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ETNMartin.
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