W-B theater complex has new management
The Times - Tribune - Scranton, Pa.
Author: NICHOLAS SOHR
Date: Dec 11, 2008
Start Page: A.7
Text Word Count: 419

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WILKES-BARRE -- After 18 months of negotiation and a year's worth of economic recession and woe, the downtown retail, restaurant and theater complex is under new management that on Wednesday vowed to fill the long-standing vacancies.
Carlsberg Management Co., a Los Angeles real estate firm, will control a 75 percent stake in University Corners -- the project formerly known as Northampton and Main -- and the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry will retain 25 percent ownership.
The more than $9 million deal is expected to be made official today.
Susquehanna Real Estate of York will partner with the chamber to develop and sell 21 high-end lofts on the second and third floors of the project.
"A little less than two and a half years ago, this site looked like Dresden, 1945," said chamber President and CEO Todd Vonderheid. "It was blown out. There was barely a building standing on Northampton Street, and there was clearly no one interested in making real estate investments greater than $10 million in downtown Wilkes-Barre."
Nearly $32 million in public and private financing later, the mixed-use development anchored by Wilkes-Barre Movies 14 was completed. City leaders hope the project sparks future investments in the downtown.
"I think what's needed here is national tenants," Carlsberg President Bill Geary Jr. said after Wednesday's announcement. "You see Dunkin' Donuts up the street, and that's the type of tenant we want here."
The first new tenant -- Mr. Geary said he plans to announce a deal in the coming days -- could be installed by March and, the entirety of the first-floor commercial space filled in two years with shops, bars and restaurants.
Mr. Geary wouldn't disclose the name of the tenant, but said it deals in coffee, cookies and ice cream.
Mr. Geary said he is also negotiating with a local group interested in the large, two-floor space at East Northampton and South Washington streets, which he described as "an ideal spot for an Irish pub and restaurant."
"Restaurants will come first, followed by retail," he said.
Carlsberg will assume $8.4 million in debt from a 10-bank consortium the chamber took on to finance the project's construction cost overruns.
Mr. Vonderheid said the chamber will receive between $300,000 and $400,000 under the deal. Carlsberg has the option to buy the chamber out of its stake.
The loft apartments are expected to fetch between $125,000 and $275,000 each, according to chamber officials, and will be marketed to young professionals.
Contact the writer: nsohr@citizensvoice.com
Credit: STAFF WRITER