SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — Scranton’s Historic Ritz Theater is back on the market after two years.

Listed for over two million dollars, the listing boasts “an exceptional opportunity to own a piece of Scranton history.”

More than just a piece of history, The Ritz has become home to a hair salon, a meadery, an ice cream shop and a restaurant, and once housed a tattoo studio.

The man behind this entertainment ecosystem is Wilkes-Barre native Josh Balz.

“I grew up here. I grew up in a trailer down the street. I came from nothing. I want to build that legacy. I want when people think of my name, they think of something great and creative and wonderful, and I want people to understand that I’m just a normal dude. I want people to know I created these things for people to escape to just like I had,” he said.

For many, that name is associated with his former band Motionless in White, where he served as the band’s keyboardist.

Performing in the band for a decade, his love for live music and entertainment led him to the Electric City.

In 2023, Balz purchased the Ritz theater as the majority owner and worked alongside a team to create a space housing more than just a stage. Now, nearly two years later to the day, the building is back up for sale, although Balz says the time and energy put into the building’s transformation won’t go to waste.

“I would never let it go into any kind of hands that would tarnish what we’ve done. I think we’ve built something great. My tiny team and I turned a building that no one went to, to a building tens of thousands of people have gone to,” said Balz.

READ MORE | Former Ritz Theater manager charged with stealing over $74K in funds

Along with the announcement of the building’s sale, Balz announced the closures of Noir, the restaurant inside the Ritz, and his Kingston oddities parlor and coffee shop, The Strange and Unusual, garnering hundreds of comments online.

“There was someone crying at Strange and Unusual the other day because we were closing and I thought, how can I close this place?”

But Balz says when when door closes, another door opens, giving FOX56 a sneak peek inside his newest venture before he announces it to the public in the coming weeks.

“It may or may not be a restaurant space that reflects things that I’ve done, and maybe it’s an elevation of things I’ve done in the past,” said Balz.

While he can’t share much about the space yet, one thing can be confirmed: the walls have already been painted black.