Mayor George Brown next week will ask City Council to authorize city officials to move forward with the sale of 59-63 Public Square — the long-vacant former First National Bank Building.
Times Leader file photo
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WILKES-BARRE — The proposed sale of the former First National Bank Building on Public Square will bring many benefits to the city, Mayor George C. Brown said.
City Council will vote on the fate of the property during Monday’s combined work session and regular meeting. If approved, the administration will sell the building to Big Public Square LLC for $450,000.
As previously reported by the Times Leader, the former bank was built in 1906 and had been vacant for years before the city bought it for $225,000 at a Luzerne County delinquent-tax sale in 2004.
The building been the subject of potential sales before — most recently in 2020 and again earlier this year. Those plans fell through, but Brown feels this time is different.
“I’m feeling very confident about this because of the people who are interested in purchasing it, so I feel confident that this deal will go through,” Brown said during an interview on Friday.
In September, Michael Bloxton, founder and CEO of the Bloxton Investment Group and a principal of Big Public Square, sought council’s approval for the city to apply for a $500,000 state gaming grant to assist with the renovations of the adjacent Luzerne Bank building, which Bloxton hopes to turn into a hotel aptly named the “Bloxton Hotel.”
Bloxton, who purchased that building just over a year ago, says the hotel will feature 130 rooms, and he hopes to add a restaurant/bar in the lobby, as well as meeting rooms and fitness and business centers. According to him, the entire project will take just about two years to complete.
According to Brown, the sale of the First National Bank Building will benefit the city in many ways, including bringing nearly half a million dollars into the city’s budgets.
Additionally, once the property is no longer owned by the city, it will bring in property taxes, he said. As it currently sits, the property does not have a tax base.
Despite the fiscal advantages, Brown says the biggest perk will be the revitalization of that section of Public Square.
“It’s a win as far as it going back on the tax rolls, but I think the nicest thing is going to be that the property is going to be utilized for something,” Brown said.
“It’s going to be functional downtown where right now it’s just a vacant building, so hopefully Big Public Square LLC has plans to bring that back to life,” he added.
Council will also vote on the following resolutions:
• Appointing Stacy Bly and city Administrator Charles McCormick to vacant seats on the Wilkes-Barre Finance Authority.
• Authorizing the administration to award contracts for the Kirby Park restroom project to the lowest responsible bidders: $376,301 to Hadley Construction for general construction; $36,218 to Delta Electrical Systems for electrical construction; $59,500 to Linco Construction for plumbing construction; and $7,550 to Aircon Service Company for heating/ventilation/air conditioning construction.
Council will meet for the work session beginning at 5:30 p.m. on the fourth floor of Wilkes-Barre City Hall, with the regular session immediately following.