The four-story, 162-year old Landmark Building has been growing through a transformation for several months. Owner Rob Bresnahan is pleased with the project and is looking for occupants interested in office space.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
The remodeled Broad Street entrance is still going through a transformation with glass door that lead to a staircase and elevator.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
Rob Bresnahan, owner of the Landmark Building, said his construction crew has been busy updating office space adding new flooring, paint, and a state-of-the-art broadband system.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
The latest acquisition is the Burns Bros. Funeral Director’s building located in front of the City of Pittston Fire Dept. The project is expected to bring in housing as well as entertainment space.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
A high resolution camera has been set atop The Landmark Building being able to move 360-degrees. There is no sound accompanying the livestream, but the public can access the camera 24/7.
Tony Callaio | For Sunday Dispatch
PITTSTON — The rebirth of The Landmark building has been moving forward since local businessman Rob Bresnahan purchased the building from Fidelity Bank in 2021. Office renovations in the top three floors of the four-story building have been completed.
“Floors two, three and four are complete,” Bresnahan said. “They are move in ready and each floor ranges between 3,000 sq. feet and 3,200 sq. ft. We’d like to get an entire floor rented as soon as possible.”
Bresnahan said the third floor is reserved for his real estate business RPB Ventures.
Some of Bresnahan’s other business affiliations such as some departments from Kuharchik Construction and the downtown Pittston development team will also occupy the third floor.
“The fourth floor is a great floor with about 3,200 sq. feet of space,” Bresnahan added. “That will floor will be an all inclusive floor being paid in one lump sum for the entire floor. We will pay all the utilities and the internet with all new fiber optic wiring enabling gigabyte speed built into the building.”
All the office walls have been painted, including common areas with new flooring installed throughout.
The Broad Street entrance glass doors have been installed leading to a lobby area with a staircase to the upper floors, access to the first floor offices and an elevator currently being upgraded.
New flooring has also been installed in the lobby and the entrance door will be accessed controlled for safety measures.
Bresnahan said the Broad Street entrance should be ready to go by Aug. 1.
Fidelity Bank still occupies the entire ground floor including the annex section. They have an option to renew their lease for a second year, if they choose to stay.
“They (Fidelity) have been great,” Bresnahan stated. “Obviously they were the prior owners of this building and they bring 25 people to the downtown and with all the other ongoing improvements with the downtown such as dining areas, they love it here. I hope they maintain a downtown Pittston presence; it’s imperative.”
Offices for now
Although Bresnahan initially believed The Landmark would be a hybrid building with office space, hotel, restaurant or even the possibility of a hotel and residential living space, for now, the plan going forward would be office space.
“The concept was for us to do 27 (hotel) rooms here,” Bresnahan said. “We don’t want to preemptively make a move without knowing where we are heading, but there is definitely need for lodging, specifically in Pittston.”
Bresnahan believes the way Pittston’s revitalization is going — bringing in new businesses and an entertainment facility — hotel rooms maybe be needed within five years.
“There really isn’t a hotel place to stay in the Pittston area, you’d have to go to Wilkes-Barre or Scranton,” Bresnahan said. “People would have to stay at Montage, the Arena area, or the Woodlands. If you have 70,000 people coming into the city for the Tomato Festival, where else would out of town people go? This would be a great location.”
Bresnahan said he would love to do themed rooms for the hotel, such as tomato themed room or a coalmining or garment theme, for example.
Coffee shop
The proposed coffee shop across the street The Landmark building’s parking lot is beginning to take shape. Bresnahan said all the components to convert the old bank drive-through are in place.
“I’m still looking into exploring the possibility of partnering with someone to run the coffee shop,” Bresnahan stated. “We are specing it out and all someone would have to do is move in their equipment, so if someone is interested, contact us.”
Bresnahan also noted a bank ATM will also be available at the coffee shop site.
New Pittston project
Recently, RPB Ventures acquired the Burns Bros. Funeral Director’s building across from the Pittston City Fire Hall.
Bresnahan said he has a lot to do regarding researching the history of the building, but he likes the structure’s soundness and potential for entertainment, food services, and residential use.
“The building is 11,400 sq. ft. and we do intend to add a 1,000 sq. ft. rooftop deck on the south east side of the building over looking the Tomato Festival lot and Fire Dept.,” Bresnahan said. “There will be 12 residential units with a few being loft style apartments.”
The Burns building was just acquired a month ago and there is a lot to access, according to Bresnahan.
“We are in the infantile stage and we know, conceptually what we need to do,” Bresnahan added. “We are talking about the possibility of commercial space on the first floor for a brewery or some kind of entertainment venue and so right now we have the border of the puzzle completed and we have to fill in the center.”
Technology downtown
If you take a look at the top corner of The Landmark’s roof, you’ll see an encased high-resolution video camera overlooking South Main Street installed by Novation Networks LLC.
The camera was installed a few weeks ago, giving the city a very different look, especially the night view.
“The camera can be rotated 360 degrees and we can point it in any direction,” Bresnahan said. “We have a great view of the Firefighter’s Memorial Bridge so if it ever gets replaced, we will be able to watch the progress from the webcam.”
To get a view of city from The Landmark building, set your browser to: https://tinyurl.com/mrffnhtr.
At the website you will also be able to see long time-lapse videos of the previous 15 days.
