Luzerne County Courthouse
                                 File photo

Luzerne County Courthouse

File photo

Luzerne County Council will hear a presentation Tuesday on Valley Crest Real Estate LP’s request for a tax break to help complete a commercial/retail project at the former county Valley Crest nursing home site in Plains Township.

Council also is scheduled to hold a public hearing and possibly vote on a $3 million award for a hotel/convention center project at the former Hotel Sterling site on the corner of River and Market streets in Wilkes-Barre, the agenda said.

In the past, council members have deferred such decisions during the “lame duck” period between general elections and the swearing-in of newly elected council members. A recent county law office opinion mirrored a past one that said matters that are not statutorily required, essential government functions should be deferred during a lame duck period. Five newly elected council members are set to take office Jan. 2.

After the 2019 general election, for example, council did not vote on a proposed real estate tax break because four new members were set to be seated in January.

Valley Crest

The tax break request would be under the Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) program for blighted properties. As required under this program, the property owner must continue to pay real estate taxes on the land throughout the break and receive a discount on taxes for the new development, typically for a decade.

Extensive traffic alterations are required for motorists to safely access the site off Route 315 on Valley Crest Boulevard — a road that also services the adjacent VA Medical Center, said project developer, Robert Tamburro of TFP Limited Real Estate Development and Management.

His company, Valley Crest Real Estate LP, purchased the former Valley Crest property from the county for $2.075 million in 2015 and tore down the asbestos-filled nursing home structures in 2021.

Tamburro said his company already invested $7 million in private funds preparing the site for development and fulfilling regulatory requirements necessary to complete the off-site highway alterations, such as a highway traffic study.

The off-site infrastructure improvements will cost an estimated $18.7 million, he said. While several million in state grants have been secured, Tamburro said a LERTA is needed to help close the gap and make the development project feasible.

These roadway improvements will include the addition of a traffic signal at Valley Crest Boulevard, Cross Valley Expressway ramp reconfigurations in this area and upgrades to existing traffic signals along this stretch, he said. The highway improvements are in the design phase at the expense of Tamburro’s company, he said.

Tamburro said completion of the highway traffic study and multiple grant cycles needed to cobble together state assistance delayed the plans. He did not want to extensively design and advance the actual retail development project until there were assurances regulatory entities were on board with a means for motorists to reach the 76-acre complex, he said.

The “Valley Crest Commons” will include a shopping center with an anchor store and several retail stores, an entertainment component, such as a theater, and restaurants and other amenities yet to be determined, Tamburro has said. Residential and business buildings also have been discussed.

A tax break will help improve the highway and “bring new life” to an idle property, he said.

“I feel like there are a lot of wins here between jobs, quality of life, new development and new infrastructure,” Tamburro said.

He stressed his company is local and has a strong track record of attracting businesses that contribute to the county’s tax base.

“We live in this community and are trying to do something that will not only benefit our company, but also the community,” Tamburro said.

Tamburro is affiliated with several family-owned companies, including the one that developed and owns the Arena Hub Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township and The Pointe on Mundy, which is anchored by Hobby Lobby.

Sterling project

H&N Investment requested $3 million toward its $36.36 million project to construct a Gateway Hyatt Place Hotel and Conference Center.

H&N paid $700,000 for the land and is working to secure a $21 million loan toward the hotel/conference center, project representatives have said. The state committed $7 million in grants toward the project to date, and there also is a $225,000 contribution from Hyatt. That leaves a gap of about $7 million.

The hotel portion would be five stories and contain 116 rooms. More than 3,000 square feet of retail space is carved out. The section fronting River Street is slated to house a 5,000-square-foot event space that can accommodate 300 to 350 people for conferences, weddings, lectures and other events.

The $3 million earmark would come from $6 million in community development funds the county set aside as a precaution in case the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, follows through with a $6 million penalty threatened a decade ago.

This sanction stems from a past county community development allocation of $6 million to redevelop the landmark Hotel Sterling that once stood at the site when it was owned by the nonprofit CityVest. HUD issued a determination that project should not have received $6 million because it did not create jobs or result in a revitalization project. The structure was condemned and torn down in 2013.

Some argue the county should not touch the $6 million kept in reserve unless HUD drops the threatened penalty, but the federal agency has not communicated any willingness to do so to date, officials said. Others have argued using the set-aside funds on the Sterling site would be the best way to clear up the disagreement with HUD because the proposed project would address HUD’s original complaint that no development has occurred there.

Meeting specifics

The public hearing on the Sterling site project starts at 5:45 p.m. Tuesday in the county courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. It focuses on a proposed budget amendment ordinance transferring the $3 million so it is available for the earmark.

Council’s voting meeting starts at 6 p.m. and includes decisions to adopt the ordinance transferring these funds and also pass a resolution approving the award for the Gateway Hyatt Place Hotel and Conference Center.

The work session will follow, which includes the presentation on the Valley Crest tax break request. Council would have to approve this request at a subsequent meeting for the tax break to take effect.

Instructions to attend remotely are posted under council’s online meetings link at luzernecounty.org.

Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.