ERIE | Development Projects Thread

[pj3000]

In more positive news for downtown, it looks like the proposal to renovate and convert the former Erie Trust / Baldwin Building to mixed-use, featuring a 150-room upscale hotel are progressing.

A planned $50M top-to-bottom renovation sounds great. The building needs it, considering the previous owner barely spent a dime on it in the three decades he owned it.






At the center of his plan is an upscale hotel with 150 or more rooms, along with space for offices, retail, restaurants and both public and performance space.

He's planning on an independent hotel, not associated with any of the national or regional brands. That way, he said, "We can better serve our customers and honor the building in terms of historic renovation."

Erie developer Tom Kennedy, who had owned the former G. Daniel Baldwin Building since 1996, sold it in June for $2 million.

That sum represents only a small fraction of the roughly $50 million the new owner hopes to invest.

According to Siembieda's application, this isn't a pie-in-the-sky dream. Most of the money is already in place, much of it from outside Erie, he said.

According to the application, "Despite a very challenging financing market, 1001 State OZ Operator, LLC has been successful in securing equity and private bank loans totaling approximately $45 million of the $50 million budget due to excellent local support for the project."

[Velvet_Highground]

Nice to see the Erie Trust / Baldwin in line for a renovation. Erie has never been been under the radar for me other than having Presque Isle State Park which is beautiful as I understand it & being next to high country making for a geographically awesome setting.

I’ve seen a share of really cool Erie photos lately Erie may be the most underrated Great Lakes city.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by Velvet_Highground

Nice to see the Erie Trust / Baldwin in line for a renovation. Erie has never been been under the radar for me other than having Presque Isle State Park which is beautiful as I understand it & being next to high country making for a geographically awesome setting.

I’ve seen a share of really cool Erie photos lately Erie may be the most underrated Great Lakes city.

Yeah, Erie certainly has one of the best geographical locations on the Great Lakes, with the beaches and bay of Presque Isle and the hills of the Allegheny Plateau rising to its immediate south, and foothills rising in southeastern Erie County.

Erie City had long benefited from a very diverse and robust manufacturing base that never collapsed with the steel industry, and due to serving as a regional educational/medical hub. It's always been rough around the edges, but it's definitely hit harder times, especially in the last 20-25 years. Transitioning from heavy manufacturing to service-based economy is tough on any city obviously, but especially hard on smaller cities. The tourism industry provides a good boost to the regional economy in the summer months.

[pj3000]

Good look at the new apartment building going up at W5th & Peach streets in lower downtown.

The high-quality of the materials in this mixed-use project is encouraging. And it's great to see this taking the spot of what was long a surface parking lot.

[pj3000]

Ongoing historically-accurate Victorian-era mansion renovation projects along West 6th Street on Erie's lower west side:

[DFWCC8]

https://www.erienewsnow.com/story/506343...-on-bond-to-purchase-former-avalon-hotel


Erie County Industrial Development Authority (ECIDA) and Good Homes Communities on Tuesday closed on a $30.6 million bond to purchase the former Avalon Hotel in downtown Erie.
Good Homes plans to transform the Avalon, located at 10th and State St., from an obsolete, nearly abandoned hotel into a 197-unit affordable workforce apartment complex with retail and commercial space on the first floor, ECIDA announced.
The first and second floors will be reconfigured to include a clubhouse, a fitness center, a co-working lounge, mail room and laundry room for the tenants.
The project is scheduled for completion in spring 2025.
Construction and renovations are set to begin immediately and estimated to bring 100 construction jobs to the site. Approximately 75 permanent jobs, which include medical , childcare, food service and building maintenance, will be created.
UPMC will be a future tenant of the new facility.
GoodHomes currently has a portfolio of more than 1,500 multi-family units in eight states.

[pj3000]

Rendering of the planned renovations to the Avalon Hotel. Looks like they're going to paint it black and add wood-like paneling to the ground floor... which is kinda weird, but could look good... anything is an improvement to its current state.

I'm glad that this is not planned to be another section 8 job, but rather "will rent for affordable prices in the range of $800 to $900 a month", according to the Erie County Redevelopment Authority.

Also, not sure what the building with the bell tower is behind it in the rendering... since it doesn't exist in real life. I imagine they just plopped the Avalon graphic on top of some stock image.

[pj3000]

Rendering of the 50k sqft Kyocera AVX facility near the Penn State Erie campus in Harborcreek, now U/C. Nothing too special, but good to see a major, global corporation establishing a presence in PS-Behrend's "Knowledge Park".



https://www.goerie.com/story/business/20...-knowledge-park-harborcreek/73292111007/

[pj3000]

Great new addition to lower downtown. The second apartment building with ground-level retail is now complete on West 5th between State and Peach streets. The residential component wraps around a completely-disguised 300+ space parking garage. Another high-quality development headed up by the Albert Kahn Architects and the EDDC.

Love that rounded stone facade!







For context, the new mixed-use development is highlighted in yellow; occupying the south portion of the block previously occupied by a McDonalds and surface parking lot.

[jFug]

Rendering of the Residence Inn by Marriott Erie Bayfront planned for the Harbor Place development.

Nick Scott still has plans on building the second hotel, although there is no timeline for it at the moment.

It is planned to be located between the current Hampton Inn and the Erie Maritime Museum on E. Front Street.

[pj3000]

Very preliminary crude renderings of plans for the W8th & Peninsula Drive intersection in Millcreek, as part of their branding as the "Presque Isle Gateway District". I like the plans to continue development along the east side of Peninsula Drive. I imagine that the property will have to be purchased from the Catholic Diocese.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by jFug

Rendering of the Residence Inn by Marriott Erie Bayfront planned for the Harbor Place development.

Nick Scott still has plans on building the second hotel, although there is no timeline for it at the moment.

It is planned to be located between the current Hampton Inn and the Erie Maritime Museum on E. Front Street.

Haven't heard any news about that hotel being built. But I saw today that PA state redevelopment grant of $750k was awarded to Harbor Place for a different hotel on a different parcel. Location circeled in red below. Maybe Scott is going to put a go-kart track on the other parcel?

$750,000 for the Bayfront Harbor Place Hotel, part of multi-phased Harbor Place Master Plan for construction of 120-room, six-story Marriott AC hotel. This will be gateway to the Central Bayfront, situated at the intersection of State Street and Bayfront Parkway.




Also, speaking of the achingly-slow-to-develop Harbor Place, here is a rendering of a proposed office building at the site. I believe that this was to be located where this new proposed AC Hotel is reported to be built, and feature a skywalk over the parkway connecting to UPMC Hamot. It seems to me that the office component might be removed, just like all the residential.






So this guy has owned the land for 25 YEARS now.. and what has he done with his waterfront property? A really ugly Hampton Inn, a "beer garden", and a miniature golf course. It's pitiful. Sell the land to someone who can actually develop it!

[jFug]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Haven't heard any news about that hotel being built. But I saw today that PA state redevelopment grant of $750k was awarded to Harbor Place for a different hotel on a different parcel. Location circeled in red below. Maybe Scott is going to put a go-kart track on the other parcel?

$750,000 for the Bayfront Harbor Place Hotel, part of multi-phased Harbor Place Master Plan for construction of 120-room, six-story Marriott AC hotel. This will be gateway to the Central Bayfront, situated at the intersection of State Street and Bayfront Parkway.

I saw that in the news today. Odd spot for a hotel, unless they are connecting the hotel to UPMC Hamot with a skybridge?

Nonetheless, AC Hotel's are very nice and would be a welcome addition to the local lodging options.

[jFug]

Looks like the GoodHomes apartments project will be done by spring if everything goes according to plan.

The one thing I'm not too sure about is the ground floor space being leased to UPMC. I was excited when they initially announced the project and said that they would be opening up the ground floor retail space, but now that I know it's just going to be used for medical offices...meh.

I wonder when they'll start work on the exterior of the building?

https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news...el-hope-to-finish-renovations-by-spring/

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by jFug

Looks like the GoodHomes apartments project will be done by spring if everything goes according to plan.

The one thing I'm not too sure about is the ground floor space being leased to UPMC. I was excited when they initially announced the project and said that they would be opening up the ground floor retail space, but now that I know it's just going to be used for medical offices...meh.

I wonder when they'll start work on the exterior of the building?

https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news...el-hope-to-finish-renovations-by-spring/

Yeah, healthcare offices certainly aren't ideal for this redevelopment, considering that basically results in it being a dead zone in terms of street-level activity. But there's a lot of ground floor space, including the former ballroom/conference section along the west side of the block, that could be dedicated for the UPMC space; leaving the ground floor along 10th St. for retail/restaurant/etc.

[pj3000]

Happy to see this little 1860s commercial building in lower downtown (19 West 4th St) being properly renovated. Even these small projects yield big dividends in terms of making downtown so much more inviting. It's the former Tickle's Deli.

Good to see that they're replacing the storefront windows to its original design. And I like the old drawing of it from an 1870s atlas of Erie County.

[photoLith]

Wow whoda ever thought that Erie would be a hotspot for historic preservation. Lots of great stuff happening there.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by photoLith

Wow whoda ever thought that Erie would be a hotspot for historic preservation. Lots of great stuff happening there.

Yeah, for all the awful tearing down Erie has done from the late 50s to today, the extensive historic preservation efforts are very welcome... thanks to the very deep pockets of local billionaire Tom Hagen and the Erie Historic Preservation Trust.

I think what's going on right now is only the beginning... not just for preservation, but for new, high-quality construction in the downtown area and surrounding neighborhoods.

The latest news that I know of is that a new building is being planned for the former AAA/United Way building site on West 6th, now that it has thankfully met the excavator. An absolute travesty that the Reed Mansion was torn down in the 1970s for this turd.

[DFWCC8]

From Federal Resources Corporation page

Federal Resources Corporation Announces Multi-Million Dollar Acquisition and Redevelopment of the Historic Mercantile Building for New Headquarters in Erie, PA
Erie, PA — December 5, 2024 — Federal Resources Corporation (FRC), a leading provider of advanced cybersecurity solutions for Federal Government agencies, has announced the acquisition and redevelopment of the Mercantile Building in Erie, Pennsylvania. This transformative, multi-million-dollar project will serve as the new home for FRC’s headquarters, occupying the second floor of the iconic structure in the heart of mid-town Erie.

In partnership with the City of Erie and ERIEBANK, the redevelopment project is expected to create 20-30 new jobs within FRC while fostering a thriving commercial ecosystem that will attract additional businesses to the area.

“The growth we’ve experienced since moving our operations to Erie in 2018 has been remarkable,” said Jeremy Young, CEO of Federal Resources Corporation. “We are deeply committed to this community and to driving development that not only supports our mission but creates meaningful opportunities for others. This project reflects our belief in Erie’s potential and our dedication to contributing to its continued revitalization.”

The project has been made possible through a collaborative effort involving the City of Erie Enterprise Zone Revolving Loan Fund, ERIEBANK, and FRC. The new headquarters will enhance FRC’s capacity to deliver cutting-edge solutions while reinforcing its commitment to Erie’s economic growth.

“ERIEBANK is proud to partner with Federal Resources Corporation and the City of Erie on this landmark project.” said Alison Samuels, Vice President of Commercial Banking at ERIEBANK. “This redevelopment represents a significant step forward for the mid-town area, showcasing the positive impact of public-private collaboration.”

FRC’s new headquarters will not only support its operations but also serve as a catalyst for further investment and innovation in the region. Construction is expected to be completed in Fall of 2025.

About Federal Resources Corporation

Federal Resources Corporation is a trusted provider of top-tier cybersecurity solutions for Federal Government agencies. Headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania, FRC is committed to fostering community development and delivering cutting-edge technology services to its clients.

For media inquiries, please contact:

James Ford
Director of Marketing
[email protected]

[DFWCC8]

Story from WJET contains video Wait for video to load

https://www.yourerie.com/news/local-news/new-owner-taking-over-downtown-eries-mercantile-building/