Centre of City Development
Butler’s downtown district has some noticeable changes on the horizon.
The Centre City project is the largest project in the city. It includes the completed Rite Aid pharmacy as well as a proposed Marriott Springhill Suites hotel and a 225-space parking garage.
Mayor Tom Donaldson said he expects construction to begin in April on both the hotel and garage.
“We should be able to go out to bid (this month),” Donaldson said of the garage. “Then we should be able to award a bid in April.”
Donaldson said it will take about a year for the garage to be completed.
J.S. Capitol Construction will be the developer of the hotel. It also built the Rite Aid at 139 S. Main St., which opened in December. That store replaced a previous Rite Aid at 118 S. Main St., which remains without a tenant.
Donaldson did not rule out the possibility of J.S. Capitol being awarded the bid for the garage, but said city council will choose the best bid for the city.
Council expects the garage to cost more than $4 million, based on the industry standard of $19,600 per space.
Council authorized itself to spend up to $7 million on the garage through a PNC Bank bond.
Donaldson said he also hopes the city can place a roof on the top deck of the garage, if funding allows it.
“That should help with some of the maintenance costs with the structure,” he said.
Gateway Engineering is handling the engineering for the garage.
Donaldson said work on the hotel likely will begin about the same time as the garage, adding the developer is preparing site plans for the structure.
City officials tout the Centre City project as a leading force in the revitalization efforts downtown, which they hope attracts new businesses to Main Street.
The project has been in development for about a decade.The city missed a chance to buy previously cast sections of a parking garage that was to be built in Cleveland. Donaldson said that garage was selected for another development.“We missed out on an opportunity there,” he said.Jeff Schmitz, the owner of J.S. Capitol, told city officials the pre-cast garage would lower the construction cost of the project.Donaldson said the city needs to start on the project before costs continue to rise.“In the time we spent talking about this, the hotel has gone from 90 rooms to 70 rooms, and the cost of a garage has gone from $12,000 a space to $19,000,” he said.While the city wants to start the project, it also wants to do it right.Councilman Bill May said he wants to be part of the garage’s design process to keep the garage consistent with the historical nature of the city.“I want to make sure the parking garage design blends in and isn’t just a big, gray concrete box,” he said. “I’d like to see some brick work put into the design to make it more aesthetically pleasing.”Donaldson said the garage likely will have some brick work.May said he doesn’t have as strong concerns about the proposed hotel’s appearance, which the city has less control over.“It’s kind of tucked behind Main Street,” he said, declining to speculate too much on the structure due to not seeing updated plans.May said keeping a historic look to the city is vital to it maintaining the experience that separates it from surrounding municipalities.“I think it’s important to having a successful Main Street,” he said. “One of the pluses to a Main Street is not having the sterile environment of a strip mall. It has a personality.”May, who originally was outspoken about the design of the new Rite Aid Pharmacy, said he has softened to the building.“I am far more pleased with the Rite Aid than I thought I would be,” he said. “It came out much better than the design.”However, May maintains he still wishes the building had display windows.
Another project that is expected to change the look of downtown is the proposed Dunkin’ Donuts coffee shop.Councilman Richard Schontz said the developer of the restaurant has picked up the demolition permits for the former Flynn Tire building.City building official John Evans said a proposed Dunkin’ Donuts downtown is moving along in development and is close to a groundbreaking.“They were hoping for late spring,” he said.Heartland Restaurant Group of Pittsburgh presented plans for the restaurant that would replace the former Flynn Tire building.The restaurant will have a drive through window, which required conditional use approval by the city.Representatives from Heartland told officials the building needs a drive through to meet its demands.However, the drive through will push the building back off Main Street several feet, breaking the traditional look of a downtown shop.While May said he would favor a traditional styled building, he said the drive through is needed.“I’m not that unpractical of a person,” he said. “That would have been a deal breaker.”May said the new Dunkin’ Donuts will still have a downtown feel to it.“They’ve made several accommodations to the design so it looks better than the cookie cutter (designs) in strip malls,” he said. “That’s a plus for Main Street.”
Evans said there has been a lot of development in the city beyond these major projects.The Reclamation Brewing company has submitted plans for construction at 221 S. Main St., though Evans said he is not sure when work might begin.The owners of the company said in November they expect the open the brewpub in the spring.Evans said the other proposed brewpub in the city, Butler Brew Works, has not had any plans submitted.Evans said a variety of other properties have undergone renovations during the past year.He credited property owners James Taylor and Joe Gray for renovating apartments downtown. He also said some businesses on Main Street have improved their shops, including Parties and Playdates, Morgyn’s Frozen Yogurt, Irene Stacy, the Lighthouse Foundation and the former Heavenly Hookah Lounge.Evans said in total there was more than $14 million worth of construction in the city in 2014, although nearly all of that stems from the new Butler County government annex on West Diamond Street.Included in that was more than $96,000 worth of permits and fees collected.While the city has a lot of development downtown, one signature piece remains vacant.The Redevelopment Authority of Butler City wants to sell the Penn Theatre for a price lower than what’s owed on the building, called a short sale.Executive Director Art Cordwell said in an interview the authority has been unable to get out of the $250,000 mortgage on the deteriorating theater, which was built in 1938.He said the authority couldn’t find a buyer to pay the full amount for the 17,500-square-foot building, but did receive interest from someone willing to pay less.The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, which has the mortgage, would have to approve a short sale as well as set the price.
