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Part of Murray complex for sale; owner mum on plans

Original concept was to build 55 loft-style condominiums, restaurants.

BILL O ’ BOYLE boboyle@timesleader.com

WILKES-BARRE – The developer planning to renovate the former Murray complex at South Pennsylvania Avenue and Ross Street is selling half of the site.

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Half of the former Murray complex in Wilkes-Barre now is for sale by developer Daniel Siniawa & Associates of Dickson City.

S. JOHN WILKIN/THE TIMES LEADER

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Daniel Siniawa & Associates of Dickson City has placed a “for sale” sign on the property to the west of Ross Street. That site has seen deterioration of the buildings. Bricks have fallen and the exterior walls are marked with graffiti.

Siniawa vice president Robert Sakosky on Monday confirmed half of the complex is for sale, but he would not comment further.

“Not at this time,” Sakosky said when asked why the for sale sign went up. “The project we proposed is going forward, and that’s all I can say.”

Mayor Tom Leighton said he is confident the original project to build 55 loft-style condominiums, restaurants and to create 50,000-60,000 square feet of retail space will be completed.

The project cost is estimated at $20 million. City Council approved application for $1 million grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development for the project.

The Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority and the Wilkes-Barre Area School District have already approved the project. The redevelopment authority will loan $2.2 million for work on the project. The school district, county and the city have approved a tax diversion for the project to help pay off the loan.

“Based on meetings and discussions I’ve had with the Siniawa group, I’m confident the project will be completed,” Leighton said. “I was told the side that is for sale would have been part of a Phase II plan, but the group decided to put it on the market.”

The city entered into an agreement with Siniawa 16 L.P. of Dickson City in July. Daniel Siniawa is the principal owner of the firm.

Sakosky attended a city council meeting in July and said he hoped to begin demolition of the section that is now for sale within 30 days, and he estimated the entire project would be ready for occupancy within 14 to 18 months. Sakosky would not comment Monday on those estimates.

The Siniawa group purchased the entire 16-acre complex for $1.5 million from Thomas Murray at a bankruptcy auction in March 2004.At council’s meeting in July, Chairwoman Kathy Kane expressed concern about what she termed “an unsafe condition” at the rear of the complex where bricks were falling to the ground.

“It’s certainly their prerogative to sell the buildings,” Kane said Monday. “But if I were going to sell a building, I would make certain it was safe to give it as much appeal as possible.”