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<p>PLAINS TWP. &#8212; A development company is making progress securing $13 million for highway traffic improvements needed to proceed with its $94 million project at the 62-acre former Valley Crest Nursing Home site.</p><p>The state won&#8217;t issue a highway occupancy permit for the Valley Crest project unless congestion is addressed along the stretch of Route 315 and Business Route 309 (Kidder Street) between Mundy Street and the Cross Valley Expressway, officials have said.</p><p>The Valley Crest site is accessible from a road off Route 315 that also services the adjacent VA Medical Center.</p><p>Plains Township Commissioners recently voted to approve a tax diversion for this highway infrastructure work, officials said.</p><p>For the diversion to take effect and generate a targeted $4.4 million, approval also would be needed from the Wilkes-Barre Area School Board and county council, officials said. A firm date has not been set to seek those approvals.</p><p>The diversion falls under the Tax Incremental Financing (TIF) program. The Valley Crest developer would continue to pay all real estate taxes, but taxing bodies must agree to temporarily sacrifice receipts from the new development to fund the road work.</p><p>Plains Township Solicitor Stephen Menn said the TIF approved by township commissioners breaks from the traditional mold because taxing bodies would keep an increasing portion of the taxes paid by Valley Crest as the diversion program progresses, instead of forgoing 100 percent throughout.</p><p>In a separate development, the Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority voted last week to seek a $1 million grant for the traffic reconfiguration through the Local Share Account, or LSA, program funded by casino gambling.</p><p>The state Department of Transportation already awarded a $3 million Multimodal Transportation Fund grant for the highway improvements last October, and additional state grants are being pursued.</p><p>Valley Crest Real Estate LP purchased the former nursing home from the county for $2.075 million in 2015 and plans to tear down the asbestos-filled structures to construct a retail, hotel and apartment complex called Valley Crest Commons.</p><p>In addition to revenue from the multimodal and proposed TIF and LSA, the developer is hoping to secure another $3.12 million from a state Department of Community and Economic Development multimodal grant and $2 million from a second PennDOT multimodal grant, the LSA application said.</p><p>State transportation officials encouraged Valley Crest Real Estate to seek the second multimodal, which will be requested by Nov. 1, the application said.</p><p>Valley Crest Real Estate will pay the 30 percent match for the multimodal grants, it said.</p><p>Developer Robert Tamburro said Monday his company would not be seeking state grants or a TIF if the off-site work was not required. He said it&#8217;s &#8220;important that the public knows&#8221; his company will keep paying taxes and contribute funds toward the highway infrastructure, independent of the $94 million it plans to invest on development at the site it purchased.</p><p>&#8220;This will improve highway problems for everyone,&#8221; Tamburro said.</p><p>The Kidder-Mundy crossroads is in a busy commercial area and has &#8220;long been recognized&#8221; as one of the most congested intersections in the region, the LSA application said. The traffic signals were recently re-timed, and there is little room for lane additions, it said.</p><p>A major reconfiguration, including a traffic circle, is being proposed after evaluating numerous possibilities, the application said, noting existing right-of-ways would be used to eliminate the need for property acquisition.</p><p>Valley Crest Real Estate estimates the highway project will go out to bid in June 2020 if funding is secured. The state transportation department concluded work would have to be completed over two construction seasons due to heavy traffic in that area and the &#8220;extensive commercial development surrounding the project,&#8221; the application said.</p><p>Tamburro is affiliated with several family-owned companies, including the one that developed and owns the Arena Hub Plaza in Wilkes-Barre Township. The new Valley Crest Commons would create an estimated 900 jobs and revitalize a site vacant since 2007, it said.</p><style>
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<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>

Valley Crest developer still lining up funding for highway reconfiguration