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WILKES-BARRE — Faced with too-high construction costs, the owner of the City Market Cafe considered abandoning plans to bring a grocery store to Public Square until the city stepped in with a $50,000 grant.
The money is part of the $500,000 in Local Share Account funds awarded to the city last July for downtown revitalization from gambling revenues at the Mohegan Sun Pocono casino in Plains Township.
The 6,000 square-foot market was added to the mix at the last minute to save it after owner Chris Cawley said he reached out to the city. It’s on track to open in the beginning of May and create approximately 15 jobs.
“We’re dependent upon that,” Cawley said of the state grant.
The money isn’t yet in hand and Cawley said he had to find interim financing to cover the $250,000 in overruns for utility upgrades on the million dollar project.
City Administrator Greg Barrouk said the city is happy to help not only with this business, but also with any other in need of assistance.
“This is something that we have been pushing for 10 years, ” Barrouk said.
But one downtown merchant frowned upon the arrangement of the city directing public funds to a private business.
“That is not the way I do business,” said Phil Rudy, owner of Circles on the Square deli and shop, located a few doors away from the market.
He said he doesn’t look to the city as a “cache pot of money available.”
Rudy said he’s been successful in his 31 years on the Square by following prudent financial practices and selling quality products.
“If you want your business to improve, you have to improve your business,” he said.
He’s outlasted many other restaurants and shops downtown and welcomed the soon-to-be arriving market. He said he expects some of his customers will check it out.
“I’m not afraid of competition,” Rudy said.
His response to the more than a million dollars in construction costs for the market? “Wow.”
Documents obtained by the Times Leader under a right-to-know request included email correspondence between the city, the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry and the state Department of Community & Economic Development about the costs.
The market originally was going to be located in the former Hardware Bar properties next to the Dunkin Donuts on South Main Street, just off Public Square. But lease restrictions forced the market to move to the property formerly occupied by Arts Seen Gallery, where it has a 10-year lease.
Rob Finlay of Humford Equities and Realty, the owner of the former Hardware Bar property and the site of the market, said he was not involved in the LSA grant. The three spaces formerly occupied by the bar and totalling approximately 12,000 square feet are still available for lease, according to the company’s website.
“This location fits perfectly with the revitalization plans of the city and Diamond City Partnership – but the location is not ideal for utility needs of a market,” said an email from Sept. 22, 2015.
“With a privately funded budget of already $1,000,000, the additional costs of $133,000 are forcing the City Market Cafe owners to abandon the project. At this point, they are seeking assistance from the City of Wilkes-Barre to defray some of the additional costs,” the email said.
The market, with its anticipated job creation and quality-of-life enhancements, fits into the downtown revitalization plans of the city, the email said.