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." 
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