This past month, the Glenmaura Corporate Center became the newest northeastern Pennsylvania business park to become zoned for a state assistance program.
All of the undeveloped office space in the corporate center , located in the Moosic Borough of Lackawanna County, is now approved as LERTA properties.
The Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance, or LERTA, program was created by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in an effort to attract more business to Pennsylvania. The program makes it possible to exempt property improvements from property taxes for up to 10 years after occupancy. Property improvements include anything from construction & reconstruction projects to repairs.
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“Glenmaura and its development plan is one of the most outstanding developments in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” Lackawanna County Commissioner Corey O'Brien said in a press release. “Very few developments, if any, can offer this much entertainment, retail, professional and living opportunities on one mountain."
Glenmaura has been hailed as one of the highest-profiled office complexes in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre real estate market. Currently, several key business assets for Lackawanna County reside in Glenmaura including PNC Stadium, the Shoppes at Montage, the Lackawanna County Visitors Center and Glenmaura Corporate Office Complex. The area also includes the Montage Mountain Ski Resort and Water Park, Glenmaura Residential and Townhome Communities and the county's largest outdoor amphitheater, the Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain.Now, with the new tax assistance, many hope to see the business complex add even more to the area.
In order for the corporate center to receive this distinction, the County of Lackawanna, Borough of Moosic, the Riverside School District and the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce had to come together. Since the program involves tax assistance, Lackawanna County Commissioners, the Riverside School District Board of Education and the Borough of Moosic all needed to approve the abatement.
While the LERTA distinction can benefit Lackawanna County, James McDonough, the president of the Glenmauara Corporate Center, notes the LERTA zoning will provide a larger benefit for the whole community. “It's a great thing for us (Glenmaura Corporate Center), for Lackawanna County, and really for this area as a whole- that's what it really is all about,” McDonough said.
The Glenmaura Corporate Center is located off of Interstate 81, at exit 182 in Moosic Pennsylvania.
The success of Glenmaura and the Glenmaura Corporate Center is the direct result of a forward-thinking, public-private partnership spearheaded by the Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Company (SLIBCO), an affiliate of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, Hemingway Development Corp., and Lackawanna County in 1994. Working together, these partners transformed more than 350 acres of land into a thriving, first class business park.
