WILKES-BARRE - Former champion drag racer and developer Joe Amato sees great potential in the University Corners buildings in downtown Wilkes-Barre.
Mr. Amato said he is finalizing the purchase of the complex, which houses RC Movies 14, ReferLocal, three restaurants and vacant retail space on South Main, East Northampton and South Washington streets, for about $5 million.
On Tuesday, he talked about his ideas for the vacant space in University Corners and said one possibility is to attract a grocery store to serve the walking traffic downtown, including college students, and deliver to high-rises. About 3,000 people live downtown and almost 14,000 people work downtown.
Recalling when downtown Wilkes-Barre was bustling with business about 50 years ago at Percy Brown's market and restaurant and other successful stores, Mr. Amato said he wants to bring back that vitality.
"When you go to New York City, there are nice things like I'm talking about. There are good grocery stores with good delis on every corner and they're successful because they deal with people who live a block away," Mr. Amato said. "We've got three blocks here with a lot of people. They eat every day and they need food and groceries, and you have a half million people who come to the movie theaters every year."
One deal in the complex is already done, Mr. Amato said. Space next to Letts Eat Indian restaurant will be a yogurt shop in the spring called "Froyo Mania." He also has been talking to other interested potential tenants, including an Internet business and an office. About 25,000 square feet of space is available for lease, he said.
In addition to RC Movies 14, ReferLocal and Letts Eat, the complex also houses Akeno Sushi and Jan-uzzi's Pizza. Tilbury's Knob, also in the complex on South Main Street, is closing.
Mr. Amato, 68, of Moosic, has been successful in drag racing and real estate. He said he was involved in the property business since he was young when his late father started A&A Auto Parts stores.
Ultimately, A&A Auto Parts and Keystone Automotive Warehouse became one of the most well-known and largest suppliers of parts and accessories in the automotive business. The Amatos sold the business in 1998.
After Wilkes-Barre Movies 14 opened, Mr. Amato said he looked at it and thought, "It's a nice movie theater project."
"We've always had our eye on this project," he said, adding he wants to see downtown Wilkes-Barre revitalized. "Through my racing travels, I spent a lot of time in different towns and you can see how they remodeled some of the downtowns and they revitalize them. People are moving downtown. Older people live downtown. They can walk across the street, they can eat and got to the movies. I think it's part of a niche of the future."
The $31 million University Corners project opened in 2006 with a combination of public funds and money from the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry. The chamber put about $15 million into the project, a cost that got to be more than the chamber could handle, said chamber President Bill Moore.
Contact the writer: dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com