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WILKES-BARRE — Geisinger’s exit from the downtown by the end of month won’t empty out the nearby Park & Lock East garage where spaces go for $70 a month.

The health care company will have a reduced presence downtown and won’t require approximately 200 spots in the garage when it moves to a newly constructed building approximately 10 miles away in Jenkins Township.

But the loss of tens of thousands of dollars in revenue as a result of the move isn’t causing the authority’s executive director Tom Torbik to panic because some Geisinger workers will remain.

“That I’m not the least bit concerned about,” Torbik said Wednesday.

However, it’s certainly in the interest of the authority to have paying customers for the 282 spots in the garage that it’s in the process of buying from the city for $1.55 million. The authority uses some of the revenue from the garage to make up the $150,000 annual payment to the city. And the city is relying on the sale and the authority’s payment to balance its $50.4 million general fund budget this year.

“Geisinger is not taking all their cars out of there by any stretch,” Torbik added.

Approximately 50 employees will remain in the office building on Public Square, Geisinger said.

And some of the spaces vacated by the company will be filled by the M&T Bank that’s moving into the Public Square office building, noted Torbik.

One of the partners of RAM Buildings that leased to Geisinger said Friday is the last day downtown for some of the health giant’s employees.

“They’re exiting 40,000 square feet in our building,” said Tony Rado of RAM Buildings. “They are maintaining approximately 15,000 square feet.”

But over the next two years, that number of parking spaces and employees downtown will diminish, he said.

Rado and his business partner in RAM, Martin Mariano, tried to buy the garage from the city last year in an attempt to get ahead of Geisinger’s exit. Their company, Washington & Market Street Properties LLC, offered $2 million and wanted to use the parking in the garage next to their building as an incentive to attract tenants.

The sale did not come before Wilkes-Barre city council for a vote. Council was reluctant to sell a city asset that was making a profit and was nearly paid off. The Parking Authority also warned that it would not be able to make the $150,000 annual payment to the city if the garage was sold.

Washington & Market Street Properties maintained its interest in purchasing the garage, indicating there could be a better offer than the Parking Authority’s. But last month, it was unable to persuade council to table a vote on the sale.

The Park & Lock East parking garage on East Market and North Washington streets in Wilkes-Barre will have more empty spaces soon when Geisinger employees leave the downtown for a new office building.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/web1_ParkingGarage.jpg.optimal.jpgThe Park & Lock East parking garage on East Market and North Washington streets in Wilkes-Barre will have more empty spaces soon when Geisinger employees leave the downtown for a new office building. Times Leader file photo

By Jerry Lynott

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Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.