First Posted: 3/6/2014
Construction crews last week began clearing out the Newrose Building at Spring and Main streets.
Main Street Manager Rose Randazzo said the $2 million renovation includes convering the top floors into high-end loft apartments, office space on the lower floors and a restaurant and two retail stores at ground level.
The developer, Grace Luxury Apartments, is comprised of construction firms owned by Patrick Hadley and Tino Feretti.
Mike Lombardo, a member of the city’s Redevelopment Authority, said the developers are following through with their plans.
“It shows their commitment to the project,” Lombardo said. “From the city’s standpoint, we’re happy about that.”
He said the developers have already completed projects in the city, including completely remodeling the Pittston Gazette Building and a building on the former St. Mary’s property.
The city’s Redevelopment Authority is applying for a $500,000 Anchor Building Grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development’s Keystone Communities Program. The grant would be loaned to developers at a low-interest rate and, when paid back, ould be used again for another project.
The application was due in January and the city should know by spring if it has received the grant.
Pittston’s first “skyscraper,” the vacant Newrose Building, was a thriving downtown building for many years. It most recently housed a daycare and offices.
The building is five stories and has about 10,000 square feet per floor.
Research done by local historian Ron Faraday indicates the property, at the corner of South Main and Spring streets, was purchased in 1921 by Jacob Newman and Joseph Rosen. Newman’s and Rosen’s last names were combined to name the Newrose Building. Newman was a politically active merchant from Dupont. Rosen was a resident and merchant from Midvale in Plains Township.
The building, called the Penn-Park Building in recent years, was sold by Max and Tillie Rosenn to Ettore and Marion Lippi for $50,000 on July 8, 1965. It was sold by Ettore and Marion Lippi to Chapel Properties, Inc. for $295,000 on July 25, 2005.
