News
Apr 13 2010
Insignia engineer hopes to buy vacant Kingston plaza
George Albert seeks bonds for a family entertainment center with office and retail space
A vacant shopping plaza eyed as the site of a medical office complex could be home to a family entertainment center with the aid of millions in federal stimulus funds.
A consulting engineer for the Insignia Medical Campus in the former Kingston Plaza along Third Avenue said he is attempting to buy the 13-acre property for his mixed-use project.
“Funding right now has been the challenge,” said George Albert of his plans to build the entertainment center and adjoining office and retail space.
He has requested $3.8 million in Recovery Zone Facility Bonds, more than a third of the $9.1 million in tax exempt bonds provided Luzerne County under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“The project is about $6 million. To date we’ve secured two and a half to three million dollars,” Albert said. A couple of local businessmen are backing the project, he added.
The family entertainment center would occupy approximately 44,000 square feet with up to an additional 22,000 square feet in office and retail space.
“While there are numerous mixed-use developments within the county, the family entertainment center will be the first of its kind in the area,” according to the request for funding Albert submitted to the county.
“Similar to Dave and Busters, the closest present use is in Allentown, Rascal’s Food and Fun.”
Albert, of Pittston, is familiar with the property, having worked with Terra Firma Land Development Group Inc. and its president, Anthony Trombetta, on the Insignia Medical Campus. Last year, Trombetta obtained a $285,000 mortgage from Albert for the campus, according to the Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds.
Trombetta, of Plains Township, bought the property for $1.85 million in 2008 and began construction of the campus that had been home to a Price Chopper.
But work stopped nearly a year ago and since then Trombetta has been implicated in the public corruption scandal that has ensnared former Luzerne County commissioner Greg Skrepenak, former judges Mark A. Ciavarella and Michael T. Conahan, as well as school directors, county officials and others.
Twice in separate cases last month in U.S. District Court, Scranton, Trombetta and his Intellacom computer company were connected to kickbacks. The company sold computer equipment at inflated prices to schools in exchange for payments to two men charged in the ongoing federal probe. Trombetta has not been charged.
Albert said he is working on an agreement of sale with Terra Firma.
He also is “working very diligently with the borough to complete the project.”
Kingston was awarded $1.4 million in gambling tax revenues from the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs casino last year. Of the total, $250,000 was to go toward construction costs at the campus.
The state Department of Community and Economic Development, which distributes the local share of gambling funds, must approve the change of use that Albert proposed, said Paul Keating, Kingston administrator.
“If they would not approve, we would ask to have it reapplied” to the Third Avenue reconstruction, said Keating. Kingston plans to repave Third Avenue from Pierce Street to Rutter Avenue.
Keating said he wrote a letter of support on Albert’s behalf to the county for stimulus money to complete the center.
The county Community Development Office received an allocation of $9.153 million in recovery zone bonds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury earlier this year.
The bonds allow qualified companies to borrow funds at low cost for commercial, industrial and retail projects. The applicants for the funds must demonstrate how the money will create jobs, generate tax revenue and lead to business expansion.
The bonds differ from other stimulus programs because they are not direct grants or appropriations, explained Andy Reilly, executive director of the Community Development Office. The bonds must be issued before Jan. 1, 2011.
Just two applications were filed by the April 1 deadline, Reilly said.
A consulting engineer for the Insignia Medical Campus in the former Kingston Plaza along Third Avenue said he is attempting to buy the 13-acre property for his mixed-use project.
“Funding right now has been the challenge,” said George Albert of his plans to build the entertainment center and adjoining office and retail space.
He has requested $3.8 million in Recovery Zone Facility Bonds, more than a third of the $9.1 million in tax exempt bonds provided Luzerne County under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
“The project is about $6 million. To date we’ve secured two and a half to three million dollars,” Albert said. A couple of local businessmen are backing the project, he added.
The family entertainment center would occupy approximately 44,000 square feet with up to an additional 22,000 square feet in office and retail space.
“While there are numerous mixed-use developments within the county, the family entertainment center will be the first of its kind in the area,” according to the request for funding Albert submitted to the county.
“Similar to Dave and Busters, the closest present use is in Allentown, Rascal’s Food and Fun.”
Albert, of Pittston, is familiar with the property, having worked with Terra Firma Land Development Group Inc. and its president, Anthony Trombetta, on the Insignia Medical Campus. Last year, Trombetta obtained a $285,000 mortgage from Albert for the campus, according to the Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds.
Trombetta, of Plains Township, bought the property for $1.85 million in 2008 and began construction of the campus that had been home to a Price Chopper.
But work stopped nearly a year ago and since then Trombetta has been implicated in the public corruption scandal that has ensnared former Luzerne County commissioner Greg Skrepenak, former judges Mark A. Ciavarella and Michael T. Conahan, as well as school directors, county officials and others.
Twice in separate cases last month in U.S. District Court, Scranton, Trombetta and his Intellacom computer company were connected to kickbacks. The company sold computer equipment at inflated prices to schools in exchange for payments to two men charged in the ongoing federal probe. Trombetta has not been charged.
Albert said he is working on an agreement of sale with Terra Firma.
He also is “working very diligently with the borough to complete the project.”
Kingston was awarded $1.4 million in gambling tax revenues from the Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs casino last year. Of the total, $250,000 was to go toward construction costs at the campus.
The state Department of Community and Economic Development, which distributes the local share of gambling funds, must approve the change of use that Albert proposed, said Paul Keating, Kingston administrator.
“If they would not approve, we would ask to have it reapplied” to the Third Avenue reconstruction, said Keating. Kingston plans to repave Third Avenue from Pierce Street to Rutter Avenue.
Keating said he wrote a letter of support on Albert’s behalf to the county for stimulus money to complete the center.
The county Community Development Office received an allocation of $9.153 million in recovery zone bonds from the U.S. Department of the Treasury earlier this year.
The bonds allow qualified companies to borrow funds at low cost for commercial, industrial and retail projects. The applicants for the funds must demonstrate how the money will create jobs, generate tax revenue and lead to business expansion.
The bonds differ from other stimulus programs because they are not direct grants or appropriations, explained Andy Reilly, executive director of the Community Development Office. The bonds must be issued before Jan. 1, 2011.
Just two applications were filed by the April 1 deadline, Reilly said.
