Work on 1400 Market St. Fast Approaching
Photo by Derek Redd Trending
WHEELING -- Wheeling City Council members expect to hold a vote on redevelopment of the 1400 block of Market Street at their next meeting, which could see housing and retail space brought downtown.
The city's development committee discussed the matter prior to the council meeting Tuesday evening. City Manager Robert Herron said the city selected Pittsburgh-based Desmone Architects last year to redevelop the 1400 block of Market Street, which they've been hard at work researching and designing over the last 10 months.
The current plan in place is for first-floor commercial and retail space, with outdoor seating in the rear of buildings where feasible, and second- and third-floor space used for apartments and Airbnb spaces. The $7.5 million project will see the city incentivize about $950,000 of the work, assuming the council approves the matter at the next council meeting.
Over the winter, Herron said, the city expects infrastructure work to begin, first by stabilizing the dilapidated buildings.
"We do anticipate that the stabilization of the buildings will begin in December," he said. "Currently, the developer has stabilization -- which is a key part of this project because the buildings have deteriorated significantly, particularly in the last 10 months or so.
"They currently have that out to bid, and they anticipate awarding a contract to begin stabilization this winter so the buildings survive another winter, and have the wherewithal to survive this project, which will be completed, according to their schedule, in April 2024."
Mayor Glenn Elliott, who serves as the chair of the development committee, said he was happy that the renovation work is finally underway. Previous efforts with other firms to tackle the same issue fell apart during the pandemic, leading to the city moving ahead with Desmone.
"The plan was always to try and save them. We had a developer circa 2018-2019 from Tucson that was close to making the move to help the buildings, then the pandemic happened, that caused that developer to back out," Elliott said. "Since then, we've worked closely with Wheeling Heritage to market these properties and find a developer with the wherewithal to take these projects.
In council matters, the city awarded $500,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funding to King's Daughters Child Care Center, assisting the facility with a $2 million expansion project.
Elliott said the city was aware that child care is something local families are sorely in need of, and hopes that the expansion will help benefit residents as well as the business.
"When we had our initial work session on ARPA funds, the one area where there was a consensus among all seven members of council was on the idea for child care being a need in the community," Elliott said. "… We've heard from a lot of people that child care is a community need. King's Daughters had a proposal to expand their capabilities and they approached us with that in mind. ... It checked a lot of boxes."
Elliott said that while details have yet to be finalized, he expects another child care facility to seek the city's aid with a similar project in the coming months.
Additionally, the council unanimously voted to approve the creation of a Youth City Council. Children grades 5 to 12 will be eligible to sit on the council, which will advise their adult counterparts on matters relating to their age group, including youth wellness, quality of life, parks and recreation, and other issues.
"It's really important that we involve local kids in local government as early as possible," said council member Rosemary Ketchum. "None of us are getting any younger, and I'd love to be able to support future generations of leaders in the city of Wheeling so that we can stay right, relevant and involved."
Elliott said that he's already received several calls from parents whose children are interested in the council.