10th & Market / Cameron St Development (Harrisburg: wood floors, for sale, apartments)

[DowntownHarrisburg]

A few years ago, someone had started renovating the building at 10th & Market (across from the post office) into loft condos. This fell apart due to a combination of the recession and their outlandish asking price. As I was walking past the area the other day en route to ABC, I started to really think about what a shame this was.

That cluster is about as close to a "warehouse district" as we're going to see in Harrisburg. You have a half dozen disused industrial buildings within 2-3 blocks of each other. The area is flanked by ABC and downtown. There's easy access to Cameron, 83, and 81. And with the right development finesse, there's more parking than anyone knows what to do with.

Imagine one or two of those buildings turned into apartments. Don't drywall over the brick and don't tile over the wood floors. Bring the building up to code, divide into a dozen or so condos (maybe a few rentals), and leave the rest as-is. Don't pretty it up; leave it as roughed-out space, and you'll plant the seeds for attracting the young / artistic / professional urban crowd.

Take another building or two and turn it into an entertainment venue. Think less Sam Bucca's, more Shady McGrady's. Pepper the remaining space with boutique retailers -- less Starbucks, more St. Thomas Roasters -- and gallery space.

That area has a lot going for it, aside from being completely deserted. Walk the block and tell me you can't feel the potential. Am I way off base here?

[ki0eh]

And it's all for sale too, from the post office to the PN to...

[danwxman]

If the market was in better shape (let's not even talk about the debt) this would easily get scooped up and you would see a major revitalization project here.

I still think it is in Harrisburg University's master plan to eventually build a more horizontal campus in this area, too.