Transit center to move ahead without tenant

Red Rose Transit Authority is likely to move forward with its plans for a downtown Lancaster transit center soon, even if the authority fails to find a tenant for the center's office space, said James Lutz, RRTA's executive director.

The authority's plan includes about 40,000 square feet of office space that it hopes to lease to a single tenant. But if the project moves forward without a tenant, Lutz said, he expected the office space would be scaled back to between about 15,000 square feet and 22,000 square feet. Lutz would not be more specific about the timeline the authority would use to determine when it would move forward with its $5.3 million project.

"We're anxious to get started," he said.

Under either scenario, the authority's plan for about 5,000 square feet of space on the center's first floor would remain the same, Lutz said. That space would house the authority's sales operations, customer waiting areas and a mezzanine area that could be used for community meetings.

Lutz said the transit authority has spent more than a year pursuing a tenant. He said the authority is continuing discussions with several potential tenants, although he would not name them or identify what types of businesses they represent.

If the authority does find a tenant, Lutz said, plans call for the center to be built with three upper floors, each being about 13,000 square feet.

If RRTA cannot find a tenant, two or three upper floors would be built, each with about 7,500 square feet of unfinished office space. The authority would later lease this space to one or more tenants, Lutz said.

Either way, Lutz said, the authority hopes to begin construction early next year.

Lutz said a slow economy and a sluggish market for office space have contributed to the authority's failure to get a tenant so far.

"We're disappointed, but not surprised," he said.

Jan Beitzer, of the Lancaster Downtown Investment District Authority, said the transit authority should move its project forward now because the center will improve the livability and attractiveness of downtown.

She said the center would give buses a common transfer point and would allow them to avoid idling on downtown streets, where they add to traffic congestion and obscure the visibility of some storefronts.

"We need to get the buses off the main streets," said Beitzer, executive director of the Lancaster DID.

The transit center also will provide a nicer place for RRTA's retail operations and for customers waiting for buses, said Jack Howell, president of the Lancaster Alliance, a city revitalization organization.