Center Point (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston: appointed, transplants, real estate)

[ScranBarre]

Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services, which is a major local real estate development group, has recently released much more detailed information on its web site regarding its massive Center Point project, aptly-named because it sits roughly equidistant to Scranton or Wilkes-Barre along I-81 and I-476. Since this massive project at full build-out will drastically alter the landscape of Northern Luzerne County, I thought it would be prudent to give you all some more insight into Center Point and the benefits (and ramifications) it potentially has upon the Greater Pittston community, as well as the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre region as a whole.



Here you can see the initial parts of Phase I of this massive project, dubbed "Center Point: East." Moving clockwise from lower-left we can see the intersection of Oak Street and Highway 315 with the Pollock Chevrolet dealership on the corner of the new access road into the park. Directly behind the auto dealership is I-476. Directly behind that are existing businesses in the old Grimes Industrial Park, including UPS. The massive building with the massive parking lot near the center of the image is the new Lowe's Home Improvement Distribution Center, which will officially open in a few weeks and will hire 700 employees. Continuing to the right we see more flex buildings that have been built for tenants such as Men's Wearhouse, FedEx, and Entenmann's Baked Goods. To the lower-right of this photo you can see the I-81 Exit 175 interchange (Pittston/Dupont), which is supposed to be replaced in the coming years in order to ease the horrific rush-hour congestion that now occurs here, especially at the offramp's juncture with Highway 315 at a blinker light, where I and many others have been rear-ended in the past. In the extreme bottom-right corner you can see the entrance to the existing Wal-Mart which will soon be converted to a Home Depot as Wal-Mart relocates to another upcoming shopping center (more on that later). This phase of the park straddles both Pittston Township and Jenkins Township.



It took me about ten minutes until I finally was able to figure out where this phase of the park, known as "Center Point: South" would be located. This is actually going to be located in Jenkins Township very near to the Plains Township line. The main arterial along the right-hand side of the image here is River Road as it runs past the Port Blanchard neighborhood. The Susquehanna River is quite literally one-quarter inch to the right of the edge of this image (you can see just a hint of the brown murky water in the extreme lower-right-hand corner). The executive-style homes just above the large cleared field are part of the Susquehanna Estates subdivision, off of Saylor Avenue. Just above this development is the village of Hilldale, in Plains Township. To the extreme left are the southernmost boundaries of the Heather Highlands Mobile Home Community in the Inkerman section of Jenkins Township.



This is "Center Point: West," which will be located entirely in Pittston Township and adjacent to my subdivision. Starting in the extreme lower-right-hand corner you can see the outer boundaries of the Horizon Estates subdivision, rounded off by an active rail line. Just above that is the Keystone Coca-Cola plant (note the red trucks in the parking lot). There are various other large-scale industrial operations along this unattractive stretch of Oak Street. Just below the I-81 symbol is the existing Pittston Township Wal-Mart, which will become a Home Depot when the existing Wal-Mart moves to become the Supercenter anchor of the upcoming Pittston Crossings Mall, which will be built right beneath where it says "Commerce & Trade Park." To the left of that logo is the borough of Dupont. Directly beneath the second "E" in "Center" is my subdivision. Directly beneath the "O" in "Point" is the Pilot Travel Center. You can also see the I-81, I-476, and Highway 315 corridors, as well as the Lowe's building I mentioned previously. The Junior Achievement building marks the southern entrance to this phase of the park. If you look closely you'll note just one lone little white home in the middle of the large cleared field; one elderly woman is holding out as long as she can before the bulldozers come.

For some odd reason I'm having trouble with Adobe right now and am unable to access further maps, but until I can get them operational feel free to check out their web site for more information:

http://www.mericle.com/public/projec...rade-park.html

[weluvpa]

That looks great for the area as a whole but when places like this are popping up all over the valley why should business's want to go to places like Scranton? Nay Aug?

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by weluvpa

That looks great for the area as a whole but when places like this are popping up all over the valley why should business's want to go to places like Scranton? Nay Aug?

They won't. Scranton will never be an industrial hot bed again. Most cities like Scranton reinvent their downtowns by attracting white-collar financial services firms and niche boutiques and restaurants---things you can't find in suburbs like these.

[Retired Law 08]

This is history repeating itself, for example, down town Bklyn.NY carrol gardens, once an affordable place, now a fortune, because of it's ease to NY,also willamsburgh bklyn
city by subway only a couple of stops, alot of old homes yuppies bought up, they now have condos, even will be building arena for the nj nets. Hoboken NJ, another example, has alot of nice bars and restaurants, sort of like greenich village, again close to NY, staten Island NY, ferry area is depressed but is building up, new minor league stadium, SI Yankees, theaters,ferry is 20 minutes to NY city, companies moving to SI, There are alot of people, I know personally that have moved to NEPA and love it, including myself, so imagine when they get that train that hasn't rode since 1970 going !there is crime everywhere, you can't escape it they say NY'S crime rate is down, I just think the powers that be kinda fudge stats so all the rich people don't get nervous and force the middle class out. I already know one of my neighbors kids that graduated marywood, they got a job in NY, was making a decent salary but you have to understand, rents in the 5 boros are from 1,200 to 1,500 rents in the city, a 1 room 3,500 to whatever! and you have noting to show for it. needless to say he moved back home. the majority of the people I know are moving out of NY, PA is high on the list because it does not tax NY
pension, and the pensions go alot further there, people that don't like the winter go to a warmer climate (snowbirds) but all and all I have seen alot of changes in PA since I started looking, all for the better!

[cjseliga]

If you're a forklift operator in NEPA, you have job security for infinity!

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by cjseliga

If you're a forklift operator in NEPA, you have job security for infinity!

I'm a firm believer that more Wall Street West-oriented white-collar jobs will scope out Downtown Scranton in the coming years while suburban parks like Center Point will continue to lure in blue-collar employers. I'm a little disappointed with developer Rob Mericle though. When he and his firm attended one of our monthly township supervisors' meetings to politely and candidly answer audience inquiries about his projects in our township, I specifically asked him if any of the non-industrial buildings would be home to any sort of white-collar-oriented firms. He specifically promised me that he was in negotiations with at least one Wall Street West-oriented firm and would likely seek many more to come to Pittston Township. No offense, but I don't think Entenmann's, Lowe's, FedEx, and Men's Wearhouse are the types of jobs that are going to retain our fresh college graduates; why would I want to work as a forklift operator if I had a Master's Degree? We need more firms like Pepperjam, Solid Cactus, Diversified, Prudential, MetLife, Merrill Lynch, etc. This may have traditionally been a blue-collar area, but if we don't start to diversify that with more higher-paying white-collar jobs then everyone is in trouble once our region's cost-of-living starts to rise as it already has in the Lehigh Valley and Poconos, where blue-collar natives are feeling the squeeze as the incoming white-collar transplants are jacking up the cost-of-living.