While much of the conversation regarding downtown redevelopment in Reading rightly centers on the traditional heart of town in and near Penn Square, another neighborhood offers plenty of promise and is further along in meeting its potential.
The gateway to Reading along Second Street between Washington and Penn streets attracts plenty of people, and more will be on the way according to a recent announcement by the Greater Berks Development Fund, an affiliate of the Reading Chamber Alliance.
The federal General Services Administration has signed a 10-year lease for more than 30,000 square feet of space at the Gateway Building, 201 Penn St. The lease is valued at more than $20 million. Federal district and bankruptcy courts, probation offices and the U.S. Marshals Service, now in the Madison building at Fourth and Washington streets, will be moving once renovations for their space at the Gateway are complete. Moving offices from one part of Reading to another isn’t the most exciting redevelopment news, but we are certainly glad that these federal agencies are staying in the city and that the GSA is living up to its long-standing commitment to help promote economic development in urban communities.
The prospect of more workers and visitors at the city’s gateway further enhances the opportunity to complete stalled efforts to fill in some important redevelopment pieces there.
It’s been a decade since the Albert Boscov Plaza parking garage opened and began offering retail space along Washington and Second streets. The idea was to take advantage of its prime location across from the GoggleWorks Center for the Arts and the R/C Reading Movies 11 & Imax. Yet in more than 10 years, the only tenant in that space has been Panevino, a restaurant that this year converted into a catering business. Plans for Cubano, a restaurant and bar that was to be on Washington Street, have been scrapped over concerns that developing it would be too costly.
We are puzzled as to why it’s been so difficult to find people interested in locating a restaurant or shop at Second and Washington streets. Plenty of people come to the neighborhood for the movie theater, the GoggleWorks and the Miller Center for the Arts. Reading Area Community College is right there and offers a large pool of potential patrons. And the Gateway Building already is home to a number of federal government offices, with more to come. A fast-casual restaurant, brewpub or specialty shop would be a perfect fit for the neighborhood.
We urge the Reading Parking Authority, which owns the garage, and Our City Reading, the nonprofit organization responsible for leasing out the space, to take a close look at the strategy for marketing it. Far too much time has gone by with little to show for it. Can something be done to alleviate the cost concerns cited by the developers of Cubano? Are there other issues with the space that are keeping people away?
This is a city neighborhood that is attracting people. The key is to make the most of it and encourage them to spend more time in the city. Having visitors park in the garage, go the movies and then head right back to their cars is not nearly good enough.
We call on those responsible to get something done so that there’s visible progress by the time the new tenants arrive at the Gateway Building.
