A Wilkes-Barre developer bought the last historic building for sale on Lackawanna Avenue in Scranton.
D&D SNB LLC bought the towering SNB Plaza Building at North Washington and Lackawanna avenues for $945,000 from contractor Carl Scartelli, who had bought the building in 2007 for $1.1 million.
D&D principal Nicholas Dye declined to comment about his plans for the 12-story structure.
Community Bank has a branch on the first floor with mostly lawyers’ offices above.
Hinerfeld Commercial Real Estate associate broker Patrick Sammon facilitated the deal, which closed June 30.
SNB Plaza is one of five buildings in the city built with a glazed terra-cotta tile exterior, said John Cognetti of Hinerfeld. The facade grew popular after architect Cass Gilbert used it on the Woolworth Building in New York City in the early 1900s.
Others faced with terra-cotta include the Scranton Life building on Spruce Street, the Lewis & Reilly building on Wyoming Avenue, the Lackawanna County Administration Building on Adams Avenue and the Times Building on Penn Avenue.
SNB Plaza’s sale completes a trifecta of historic buildings sold on Lackawanna Avenue to ambitious entrepreneurs.
In January, developer Charles Jefferson bought the former Samter’s Department Store at Lackawanna and Penn avenues for $500,000. He plans to fill the 43,700-square-foot building with residential units in the upper floors and retail space on the first floor.
A few months later, in May New York City developer Shimon Friedman bought the Oppenheim Building and adjacent Lewis & Reilly building — nearly 200,000 square feet — at Lackawanna and Wyoming Avenue for $1.2 million.
Friedman said he plans to restore the building and put luxury loft apartments in the Lewis & Reilly building.
Like Jefferson and Friedman, Dye and his associates have a knack for converting old office buildings into apartments and commercial space.
Last year he bought the PNC Bank building in downtown Wilkes-Barre and announced plans for 40 upscale apartments and office space, and has numerous holdings in Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.
Because of a filing error, The Times-Tribune published a property transaction listing in June that said the building was located in Dunmore, not Scranton.
Contact the writer:
joconnell@timesshamrock.com
570-348-9131, @jon_oc
