Luzerne County authority won’t be voting on former Hotel Sterling site parkade funding request

The Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority won’t be voting today on a request to seek $1 million in state casino gambling funding for a parkade at the former Hotel Sterling site in downtown Wilkes-Barre because the request was withdrawn, officials said.

Instead of going through the county authority, the Wilkes-Barre Industrial Development Authority will submit the parkade funding request directly to the state on its own behalf, Stephen Barrouk said Monday.

Requests for gambling Local Share Account, or LSA, funds must be submitted through certain entities, including redevelopment authorities and municipalities. The city authority recently confirmed with the state that city industrial development authorities are among the entities authorized to submit LSA applications, Barrouk said.

The Wilkes-Barre Industrial Development Authority is seeking the parkade funding as part of a public/private partnership with the developer of a proposed Gateway Hyatt Place Hotel and Conference Center on the corner of North River and West Market streets.

Barrouk, who is affiliated with that project, said the city authority would own the public garage, while the hotel/conference center developer would enter into an agreement to help manage the parkade.

The plans call for 75 ground-level hotel spaces, and the two-story garage will have 150 spaces with the ability to expand upward if needed, he said.

County Council had awarded $2 million in federal American Rescue Plan funds to help build the parking garage earlier this year, which was $1 million less than requested. In total, the parkade will cost $3.8 million. The city authority is pursuing grants to cover the remaining gap, Barrouk said.

Separate from the hotel, parking must be added in that city section to accommodate other residential structures and events at the county-owned River Common recreational complex located across the street along the Susquehanna River, Barrouk has said. Several nearby former commercial buildings have been converted for residential use with no parking, and the occupants’ ability to park for free at the Sterling lot will end when the site is developed, he said.

While applications seeking a share of locally-designated gambling funding were due Sept. 30, the parking garage request would be for a portion of statewide gambling funds that have a Nov. 30 submission deadline.

H&N Investments owns the former Hotel Sterling parcel and wants to build the $36.36 million Gateway Hyatt Place Hotel and Conference Center. H&N is asking the county for $3 million to help close the remaining projected $7 million gap for that project.

Barrouk said the new $3 million request is solely for the hotel/conference center, which must be segregated because the parkade would be government-owned.