Downtown Development Houses and lofts: More people choosing to live in the downtown

Nov. 27—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Many historic houses in Johnstown have become blighted or have been demolished.

In the 200 block of Lincoln Street, a block once populated by Victorian-style houses, only a couple still stand — and only one is currently occupied.

Chad McLaren and Austin Hoffman bought a home there in July, and they have plans to help prevent Johnstown from losing more of its historic residential nature.

Their house, built in 1890, survived Johnstown's floods in 1936 and 1977.

Inside, the original banister, stained-glass windows and hardwood floors are intact.

The exterior needs some work, they said, and they plan to begin as soon as they can find a contractor.

They also bought an empty lot directly across the street. It's a big brown grassy space, visible from the Inclined Plane. They plan to plant a vibrant garden there in the spring.

They paid $28,500 cash for the house and the lot, and for that price, McLaren is surprised other properties downtown remain apparently unwanted.

"There are beautiful homes and buildings downtown that are just sitting," McLaren said.

McLaren, 35, is originally from Summerhill Borough, and Hoffman, 33, is from eastern Pennsylvania.

They had been waiting for a house downtown to hit the market since they moved back to the area months ago from Norfolk, Virginia, where McLaren served in the U.S. Navy.

"We absolutely chose to live here, and our quality of life has improved," McLaren said. "It's the pace of life, the cost of living."

'A lot of amenities'

Bill and Kim McKinney have also taken a leap of faith to save a piece of downtown Johnstown.

They are renovating an eight-floor building at 605 Main St. that dates back to 1904. It was formerly the Carnegie Building and, most recently, home to Cambria Jewelers.

They are calling their 18,000-square-foot building the "Lofts on Upper Main."

Construction began about two months ago, and their plan is to sell floors, each more than 2,000 square feet.

The McKinneys sold their home in Westmont to move downtown.

"I truly wasn't on board in the beginning, because we built our house 27 years ago," Kim McKinney said. "But we have no regrets. We are really enjoying being part of downtown."

Bill McKinney said he's noticing more concerts in Johnstown's Central Park or at Peoples Natural Gas Park. He also pointed to plans that the Johnstown recreation commission has for bringing more entertainment to Sargent's Stadium at the Point.

"I think we are right in the middle of a process of something new," Bill said. "I think there are a lot of amenities people don't realize are downtown."

'Feels like New York City'

McLaren said he and Hoffman are also in the early stages of forming a downtown residents association.

Their association would aim to adopt projects including parks and present residential needs to city council.

"There are a lot of people who live downtown, and we want to advocate for that," McLaren said. "I don't think it gets enough attention."

Francis Ryan, 97, has lived in downtown's 1st Ward since he returned home from World War II in 1946, he said.

Looking from his front porch on the 200 block of Union Street, he observed that there's not a house all the way to the opposite end of town at Washington Street.

"Everywhere you see a parking lot now, there used to be a house there," he said.

Ryan was a crane operator for the once-bustling Bethlehem Steel Co. He left that job after the flood in 1977, he said, because he was seeing the company cut back.

"There aren't many houses in the city anymore," he said.

The 2020 census showed Johnstown's population had declined 12% to about 18,000, continuing decades of population loss. The last time the population was under under 20,000 was in 1880, when Johnstown was in its early development and showing promise.

Excited by new businesses and residential interest in downtown, McLaren said he wants to make downtown more recognizable as a 24-hour neighborhood, not a place to work and then go back to Richland or Westmont.

He said he enjoys being within walking distance of a variety of stores and restaurants.

"And we are essentially next door to the library, not to mention the Cambria County War Memorial and Peoples Natural Gas Park concert venue — another under-appreciated asset," McLaren said. "Or you could walk to the train station and be in New York in a matter of hours."

Hoffman hopes to make a small impact to move the population numbers back up over the next few years.

As a board member of the Discover Downtown Johnstown Partnership, he's seen how the group's Taste & Tour event in past year drew people downtown.

"During that event, downtown feels like New York City, and that's only 700 people," he said. "I think that's a realistic number to attract to live here."

Hoffman works remotely in the health care industry. McLaren has transitioned from active duty to the Navy Reserves and is full-time student on GI bill at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

The COVID-19 pandemic led to some unexpected demand for housing and private office space in Johnstown's small, low-cost market, said Howard Hanna Johnstown real estate agent Barry Gallagher.

"The idea of office space, especially during the pandemic — it's like a drug on the market," he said.

Gallagher said he's been seeing people who work remotely move to Johnstown, and retirees who've moved away over the years are also coming back, he said.

Millennials and baby boomers are the crowd that downtown Johnstown, and downtowns in general, are likely to attract most, said Laquan Marshall, CEO of Johnstown Capital Partners, LLC.

In addition to mixed commercial-residential buildings downtown, the company also finished renovating a house at the 200 block of Vine Street. So far, there's been interest from a traveling nurse, he said.

Years ago, Sharon Honkus, owner of Celestial Brides on Market Street, developed residential lofts above Classic Elements on Main Street.

"My partners and I bought that building 14 years ago, and converted the top floors into lofts," she said. "We were one of the first ones to take over a building and do that. and now it's turning into what a downtown should be — pedestrian traffic, people wanting to live downtown."