READING, Pa.- These are the buildings, right in the heart of Penn Street, sitting across from major development already underway in downtown Reading.
And now, a $700,000 state grant is helping push this project forward.
“This is going to be in the 418-422 Penn Street. These are two old historic buildings, and as a result of this financing, there’ll be 12 units, and underneath, there’ll be studios, shops and retail as well,” said Sen. Judy Schwank.
Behind the project is a familiar name in the city.
Cheryl Aston, co-owner of Marvel Ranch, a restaurant that has been part of Reading for more than three decades, is leading the effort.
“We invested in some properties downtown because we love our city, we believe in our city, and we think the redevelopment is going to be great,” Aston said.
Now, she’s bringing that same passion here.
“This one is huge. It’s deceptive because it’s only like this, but it goes all the way back to Cherry Street. I think it’s over 2,000 square feet. And it’s got a huge basement,” Aston said.
The goal is more housing and more businesses.
“For many years, the downtown of Reading has been somewhat vacant, isolated. Since I got elected, it was a priority of mine to make sure that we bring the downtown alive,” said Mayor Eddie Moran.
And projects like this are starting to add up.
“We’re starting to aggregate all of these positive developments in that particular block and area.
That’s exactly the kind of development that we need to have so that we build momentum,” Schwank said.
And now, Aston says it’s all hands on deck.
“We want to make it historic, and we want to see them beautiful. We’d like to be able to make some kind of outdoor seating,” she said.