{"id":285551,"date":"2026-09-14T06:20:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-14T06:20:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/285551\/"},"modified":"2026-09-14T06:20:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-14T06:20:08","slug":"monday-update-downtown-property-being-transformed-into-educational-commercial-hub","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/285551\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Update: Downtown property being transformed into educational, commercial hub"},"content":{"rendered":"

Work is underway on a project in downtown Scranton aimed at transforming a six-story building at Adams Avenue and Mulberry Street, creating a Lackawanna College campus \u201cgateway,\u201d expanding the school\u2019s health sciences footprint and revitalizing a key intersection.<\/p>\n

In April, the college announced its partnership with developer John Basalyga for a major refit of the college\u2019s large, underused building at 401 Adams Ave. into instructional, mixed-use and residential spaces.<\/p>\n

The college had the building up for sale for about a year-and-a-half, because renovating it had become prohibitively expensive, officials had said.<\/p>\n

The educational institution now has sold the building for an undisclosed amount to a Basalyga firm called 401 Adams LLC, a sister company of JBAS Realty and its parent, the Basalyga Group.<\/p>\n

A lease agreement as part of the transaction will redesign and convert 34,000 square feet of space on the second and third floors into modern instructional space for Lackawanna College\u2019s growing health science programs, including nursing, sonography, surgical technology, certified medical assistant and physical therapist assistant programs.<\/p>\n

Now crews on the ground are preparing the building for renovation expected to be completed in early 2027, according to Basalyga.<\/p>\n

Windows have been removed from the lower three floors of the building and new ones should be arriving within the next several months.<\/p>\n

Basalyga points out that the new windows will allow more light into the building, providing a setting perfect for education.<\/p>\n

Framing inside the building is completed, in preparation for drywalling.<\/p>\n

The next step in redeveloping the property, he said, will be working with a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning contractor to fabricate duct work for the building\u2019s mechanical system.<\/p>\n

Basalyga is working on renting out more of the building in anticipation of its 2027 completion. He believes the first floor would be perfect for commercial tenants, bringing business to the downtown.<\/p>\n

The first floor will also hold a common area.<\/p>\n

He anticipates upper floors may be rented out as apartments or dorms, but isn\u2019t sure yet.<\/p>\n

The mixed-use designation of the property makes it perfect for business, education and housing, he said, bringing life to the downtown.<\/p>\n

Basalyga, who is president and CEO of JBAS Realty, said beyond design and renovation, the project benefits the community and the college,\u00a0creating a modern academic environment and opening the door for future commercial and residential uses.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Basalyga has the building at 401 Adams Ave. at Mulberry Street in downtown Scranton under renovation on Aug. 12, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Basalyga has the building at 401 Adams Ave. at Mulberry Street in downtown Scranton under renovation on Aug. 12, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Basalyga has the building at 401 Adams Ave. at Mulberry Street in downtown Scranton under renovation on Aug. 12, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Basalyga has the building at 401 Adams Ave. at Mulberry Street in downtown Scranton under renovation on Aug. 12, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Basalyga has the building at 401 Adams Ave. at Mulberry Street in downtown Scranton under renovation on Aug. 12, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Basalyga has the building at 401 Adams Ave. at Mulberry Street in downtown Scranton under renovation on Aug. 12, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n

John Basalyga has the building at 401 Adams Ave. at Mulberry Street in downtown Scranton under renovation on Aug. 12, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 7<\/p>\n

John Basalyga has the building at 401 Adams Ave. at Mulberry Street in downtown Scranton under renovation on Aug. 12, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nMixed use, win-win<\/p>\n

In 2014, Lackawanna College purchased for $1.2 million what was then called the Scranton Center property at 401-409 Adams Ave., comprising two buildings and a courtyard between them. The buildings flanking the courtyard include the six-story structure at 401 Adams Ave. and a two-story building at 409 Adams Ave.<\/p>\n

The college later renovated the two-story building for culinary\/hospitality education, and also pursued plans to renovate the six-story building for mostly classroom space and other uses. But those renovation plans never panned out.<\/p>\n

In 2015, Lackawanna College was planning a $14.3 million, multiphase renovation of the six-story building that was mainly vacant, as well as a renovation of the smaller, two-story building and courtyard under a concept called Cornerstone Commons, with a total estimated cost of $20 million. As cost estimates continued to rise, plans for the six-story building got shelved.<\/p>\n

The college\u2019s willingness to think outside the box and partner with Basalyga provides benefit to both parties, he said.<\/p>\n

Monday Update<\/p>\n

THEN: In April, Lackawanna College announced a partnership with John Basalyga for a major redevelopment of the college\u2019s large, underused building at 401 Adams Ave. in downtown Scranton into instructional, mixed-use and residential spaces.<\/p>\n

NOW: The project is well underway. Windows have been removed in anticipation of new windows that will provide more light. Framing inside the building is complete in preparation for drywall. Next steps include updating the building\u2019s HVAC system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Work is underway on a project in downtown Scranton aimed at transforming a six-story building at Adams Avenue…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":285552,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[60,201,182,139,28,1081,178,180,179,181],"class_list":["post-285551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-business","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-real-estate","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285551","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=285551"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/285551\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/285552"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=285551"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=285551"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=285551"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}