Luzerne County Council approves funding for Sterling site project

Madonna Mantione
·2 min read

WILKES-BARRE, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Efforts are underway to revitalize the city of Wilkes-Barre.

Tuesday night the Luzerne County Council voted to approve a multi-million dollar earmark for a proposed hotel and convention center.

This empty 2.1-acre lot in downtown Wilkes-Barre is where the former Hotel Sterling once stood.

As depicted on the “coming soon” sign, H&N Investments proposed a $37 million, 112-room gateway Hyatt Place hotel and conference center for it.

“I’ve supported this project essentially from the beginning. I still remember when the Sterling Hotel was torn down, and it was sort of a controversy back then being that it was a historic structure,” said John Lombardo the Luzerne County Council Chair.

$3 million in federal funding was requested by H&N Investments for the project.

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Tuesday’s vote by Luzerne County Council authorized county manager Romilda Crocamo to negotiate a final agreement.

“We on council feel that having something in that place will really spur some economic development and just get people to be more attracted to come into the county,” says Lombardo.

The money will come from an account council created years ago, containing $6 million in federal grant funding for a previous project at the site that fell through.

“We can no longer be as dependent on the office sector as we had been before 2020, and if we want to create a downtown that is firing on all cylinders, we need to have a robust hospitality sector than what we currently have,” explained Larry Newman the executive director of Diamond City Partnership.

Newman says building downtown’s hospitality sector is an important part of downtown’s post-pandemic recovery.

“I think everyone who cares about downtown, and who cares about the city of Wilkes-Barre, and quite honestly anyone who says that they care about the future of the Wyoming Valley should be interested in getting the best possible product at the Hotel Sterling site,” continued Newman.

Officials say the county grant would be rescinded if construction does not start within 36 months.

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