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<p>An online auction is scheduled to kick off Monday for the landmark, six-story Courthouse Square Towers property, which is privately owned and located near the Luzerne County Courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre.</p><p>Bids start at $899,000, and the auction runs from 9 a.m. Monday until 4 p.m. Aug. 1, according to the posting at <a href="https://zetabid.com/auction/office-building-courthouse-square-towers-wilkes-barre-pa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">zetabid.com</a>.</p><p>The property is owned by the late Maurice Koury, records and past published reports say.</p><p>It is described as a &#8220;true value-add&#8221; opportunity in the auction posting, which in real estate lingo typically means the property needs significant investment in repairs and updates. The 39,000-square-foot office building has a 32 percent occupancy and &#8220;plenty of upside potential,&#8221; it says, citing a current $161,000 total gross rental income from around 10 tenants.</p><p>The posting highlights the building&#8217;s &#8220;prime corner location across from the courthouse&#8221; and its full-service, ground-floor restaurant, three elevators, granite lobby entrance and attached, 195-space parking garage.</p><p>A buyer also would have the opportunity to further appeal the real estate assessment, which the auction posting maintains is currently 300 percent of the property&#8217;s true value. It tallies the existing taxes at $89,300.</p><p>The county assessed the property at $4.9 million after the reassessment that took effect in 2009, but it was reduced to the current $2.9 million value after the owner had challenged that value.</p><p>It&#8217;s unclear why the auction option has been selected for the property, and a zetabid representative said further internal clearance was required to answer media questions.</p><p>Courthouse Square had been listed at an asking price of $1.6 million through Nasser Real Estate Inc., its website says.</p><p>Luzerne County Manager C. David Pedri said his administration had reviewed the property with engineers to determine if it was worth proposing a county purchase because the structure is within the courthouse complex. At least one resident had suggested exploration of that possibility.</p><p>Located at the corner of West North and North River Streets, the 0.41-acre Courthouse Square property is on the same side of River Street as the courthouse, separated only by the Veterans Memorial (Pierce Street) Bridge. The Courthouse Square building is adjacent to the county-owned Bernard C. Brominski Building and Water Street parkade.</p><p>Several county offices had leased space in the Courthouse Square building over the years to house workers, including assistant district attorneys and employees from solid waste. The county&#8217;s reassessment company also had temporary offices in the building.</p><p>But Pedri said the county decided the option was not worth presenting because of dwindling county capital funds and the amount of work required at the building, he said.</p><p>&#8220;Unfortunately our capital budget is not able to take on this sizable building plus renovations needed to make it viable for county offices,&#8221; Pedri said. &#8220;At this point, the county doesn&#8217;t need another building to own and maintain, and this could be an expensive endeavor.&#8221;</p><p><strong>Project history</strong></p><p>The Courthouse Square project had been on the drawing board for more than a year before a design sketch and details were publicly released in an April 1974 news article.</p><p>The initial plans were for a 10-story building that included a &#8220;posh gourmet restaurant&#8221; and banquet room with great views of the Susquehanna River and Wyoming Valley, the article said. At that time, the project site was occupied by Hertz Rental Car and Truck Outlet and Mike&#8217;s parking lot, it said.</p><p>Local developer Dominic Ortolani decided to reduce the height of the building to six stories the following year, or in 1975, and also scaled back the size of the parking garage, another article said.</p><p>While under construction in 1976, Courthouse Square was included in a Wilkes-Barre Industrial Authority bus tour touting 25 buildings or projects financially aided by IDA loans.</p><p>A 1977 news article headlined &#8220;Modern Structures&#8221; featured a photo of the progressing construction, saying the building and parking garage were introducing &#8220;a new look in the north end of Wilkes-Barre.&#8221;</p><p>As construction wrapped up in 1979, the developer ran advertisements inviting tenants to join the growing list of AAA firms locating in the &#8220;Wyoming Valley&#8217;s newest and most prestigious office building.&#8221;</p><p>Due to an outstanding loan, the city industrial authority held title to the property, records show. Following financial issues with the initial developer, the authority conveyed the property to Koury in February 1993, officials have said.</p><p>Pedri said he is hopeful a viable buyer will acquire the property and maximize its potential.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re happy to be a good neighbor,&#8221; he said.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Courthouse Square Towers is a privately owned property located near the Luzerne County Courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. It is set to go to auction Monday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/web1_67297633_854706524965283_5997741886914166784_n.jpg</photo0><caption0>Courthouse Square Towers is a privately owned property located near the Luzerne County Courthouse on River Street in Wilkes-Barre. It is set to go to auction Monday. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Jennifer Learn-Andes</p><p>jandes@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Jennifer Learn-Andes at 570-991-6388 or on Twitter @TLJenLearnAndes.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Landmark building near Luzerne County Courthouse to be auctioned