Two vacancies officially were filled Thursday evening on the Clearfield Borough Council. Magisterial District Judge Michael Morris was on hand to officially swear in one of the newest members, Brian Lytle, who takes over for Robbie Tubbs, for Second Ward. Stephen Livergood, who was not in attendance, takes over on Council for Third Ward.
Lytle did not have much time to take in his new post as he was officially assigned as the chair of both the Public Works Committee, along with the Planning and Community Development Committee.
Once the swearing in was completed, the Borough got to hear about the major progress at River’s Landing Project along the Susquehanna River from Robert Swales. He would reveal that the temporary lease hold for occupancy is almost ready to be removed in favor of the permanent lease, as the railing is being installed, and could potentially be finished by end of the month. Swales added that they are still looking for an anchor tenant for the main space on the first floor, but the amount of inquiries has been excellent.
“We’ve had seven micro-breweries and restaurants that have looked at the raw space as potential tenants,” Swales said. “We have an additional 12 that we have talked with for recruitment. Unfortunately, there have been some businesses that we’ve had to turn away. Some were looking at expansion into the State College area, while others are looking at the Pittsburgh area.
“Others were local businesses that looked to expand, but that isn’t what our goal has been. We redirected them to other properties in the area along with Lawrence Township. Our focus is to bring in new businesses to the area.”
The main anchor tenant will have a 4100-square foot space to work with, and it is raw space so the potential tenant can set things up how they would like before having a permanent floor put in place and having lines for plumbing along with electrical installed. Swales left this space as raw for this reason so the tenant has design freedom.
The second floor is set up to host special events and gatherings, however Swales has only been penciling in potential renters for the event space as more pieces come in to fill the space.
A few of the tenants are locked in for some of the other spaces, namely for professional offices and medical-related practices.
“I’m non-committal on events right now as we wait for more bidding on tenant spaces. As of right now, it could be as early as August that they could start taking bookings,” Swales said.
Swales said he wants to have up to three anchor tenants for River’s Landing, but two new businesses is the ultimate goal. The smallest of the suites is looking good for occupancy, but Swales is still waiting to hear from a few more potential buyers to officially have the building filled. The biggest challenge for River’s Landing isn’t the building itself, but the challenges the bar and restaurant industry is still facing from the last 18 months.
“It is harder for the industry right now as they are still facing challenges stemming from all the Covid-19 restrictions of the last year,” he said. “They still are facing challenges from capacity to filling positions. But, our goal is to fill the space with a new business that will flourish.”