By KEVIN KUNZMANN
Pocono Record Writer
Posted Jan. 20, 2016 @ 6:05 pm

The Stroudsburg Borough Council approved the demolition of two Main Street buildings for a project that could repurpose the vacant lots into a five-story complex.

The former venues of Bridal Locations and the state liquor store at 759 and 761 Main St., respectively, could be demolished by the end of winter, Dein Properties General Manager George Strunk said. By the summertime, ground could be broken on a high-end apartment complex with office space and first-floor retail space.

Dein Properties is meeting with prospective architects to head the project after getting the demolition OK from borough council on Tuesday night. The Stroudsburg-based development firm has had discussions with the Historical Architectural Review Board to ensure the demolition complies with the borough’s Historic Preservation District Ordinance.

Council member and HARB Chair Ken Lang said the review board found 759 and 761 Main St. do not have “contributing quality to our historic fiber” and unanimously approved their demolition.

Lang has been helping Dein Properties storyboard the process for what he calls a “huge project.”

“It’s absolutely a benefit to our community,” Lang said. “There are holes on our Main Street, and we want to fill those holes.”

The project still faces a litany of requirements to meet the borough’s historical and structural standards, especially because it will be located in the downtown district. The planned five-story structure will have to comply with Stroudsburg ordinances that set a limit on overall height and length per single building.

That the building should be “in rhythm with the streetscape” was a point emphasized early on to Dein Properties, Lang said.

Strunk said he has been reviewing Stroudsburg’s building height ordinances. Though the primary plan is to build a five-story building in compliance with ordinance, Strunk said it’s currently “up in the air.”

The plans, which Strunk hopes to have approved by council in the late spring, will potentially feature a first-floor retail space, two floors of either office space or apartments then another two floors of apartments.

Lang emphasized the project’s potential aid to the borough’s push for tourism and attraction to its historic downtown. He used the city of Bethlehem and Milford as examples that Stroudsburg should follow.

“We believe the past is our economic future,” Lang said. “When Bethlehem committed to preservation, Wilkes-Barre committed to building it big, building it huge.”

Dein Properties have been candid and forthright about their intentions, he said.

“It’s not their first rodeo,” Lang said. “There’s not so much mystery about what it’s all about, and we’ve opened the floodgates for them.”

Strunk is excited for what’s to come.

“Downtown Stroudsburg has a lot of potential, but it needs to be tapped,” Strunk said.

Source http://www.poconorecord.com/article/20160120/NEWS/160129972