A developer will begin preliminary work on a three-story apartment building in Clarks Summit he hopes will be a community asset.
Borough council granted conditional use last week to Ron Parasole to construct the building at 423 Center St. Parasole said Monday he is making sure the ground is stable enough to build the foundation. Once that is determined, work on the new building can begin.
The plans call for the current two-story building, totaling 10,000 square feet, to be demolished and a 36,000-square-foot building constructed on the current lot. It will include 25 apartments — 19 two-bedroom, each a little more than 1,200 square feet and six one-bedroom units that will be about 900 square feet. Other amenities include an elevator, trash chute, a utility sink on each floor, community room, rooftop deck, outdoor kitchen and gas fire pit. Each unit will also have laundry appliances, private balconies and air conditioning and heating. Each apartment will have a bathroom to correspond with each bedroom.
The apartments will be open to residents 55 and older and be pet friendly. Parasole said his research showed there is a need for housing for people over 55. Tenants will pay market rate rent: $2,400 a month for a two-bedroom apartment and $1,800 for a one-bedroom unit.
“You got a lot of people who are getting up there in the age and owning a house is a lot of work,” he said. “It’s a crazy amount of money to upkeep a house. The expenses keep on going up.”
A rendering of the apartment building planned for 423 Center St. in Clarks Summit. (Submitted)
423 Center St. in Clarks Summit on Tuesday, April 07, 2026. (REBECCA PARTICKA/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
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A rendering of the apartment building planned for 423 Center St. in Clarks Summit. (Submitted)
The building will be called Miles Summit, in recognition of the Miles family, which operated Miles Auto Parts and Miles Foundry, formerly located less than a mile from the building in the 300 block of Bedford Street. Miles Auto Parts operated from 1932 to 2024 and the red building that housed it was demolished last month. The foundry, which was also demolished, was established in 1954 and closed in 1998.
Parasole, who purchased the property Miles Auto Parts stood on in the fall, is still determining what to do with the site and has to consider that the property and surrounding area have had issues with flooding. He hopes to put something accessible to the community on the site, such as a community center, with amenities and the existing “Miles Auto Parts” sign part of the plans.
Parasole has an agreement to purchase the Center Street property, which has housed the United Cerebral Palsy of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s Children’s Center since the mid-1980s. He said the organization has not moved out and is actively looking for a new location.
The council vote included a caveat that he have a stormwater easement signed, which he agreed to do.
Council President Gerrie Carey said after voting the project is “going in a good direction” and the governing body is happy for him, according to a video from the meeting reviewed by The Times-Tribune. Council members also applauded after the vote.
Parasole said the apartment building will be beneficial to the community by bringing more people to downtown Clarks Summit and bringing a new tax base to the borough. He is also looking to add a community garden and local businesses to the building, which the public can access.
“Whatever I’m going to do is going to benefit the area and also my tenants as well,” he said.