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Upgrades, renovations coming to downtown Wheeling

WHEELING — Within a few months, hundreds of additional people will work in downtown Wheeling daily at the Health Plan headquarters in the 1100 block of Main and Market streets, so Mayor Glenn Elliott and other city leaders are doing their best to accommodate the influx.

At the same time, renovations and upgrades are taking place at the former Gerrero Music building on the west side of Main Street, a development city leaders believe may result in new a new restaurant and some apartments overlooking the Ohio River.

Although the projects are unrelated, Elliott and Vice Mayor Chad Thalman said the work shows downtown Wheeling’s renaissance is ongoing.

“I think most people would agree that downtown Wheeling is headed in a positive direction. There are a lot of investments being made in downtown, and I anticipate that will continue as the private sector continues to recognize the many opportunities that are present,” Thalman said.

“The completion of the Health Plan’s beautiful new headquarters later this year will mark the end of a 35-year drought for new private sector buildings in downtown Wheeling,” Elliott added of the four-story, 53,000-square-foot building. “It is important that we do not understate how important this is not only for economic development purposes, but also from a psychological perspective.”

The Health Plan

The road to bringing this headquarters to downtown Wheeling began several years ago when city council members voted to use tax increment financing to purchase and demolish multiple buildings in the 1100 block of Main and Market streets. These buildings once housed businesses such as the G.C. Murphy store, Rite Aid, Feet First and Downtown Wheeling Antiques. However, they had fallen into disrepair by the late 2000s, so city leaders proceeded to purchase and, ultimately, demolish them. Officials later purchased and demolished three other buildings that were not part of the original agreement to clear the space for new development.

In December 2015, city leaders joined officials with the Health Plan to announce the company would relocate its corporate office from St. Clairsville to downtown Wheeling.

Wheeling voters elected Elliott and Thalman, along with Councilwoman Wendy Scatterday and Councilmen Brian Wilson, Ty Thorngate and Dave Palmer, to represent them in May 2016, with the new council members joining returning Councilman Ken Imer in office on July 1, 2016.

Elliott said he is not sure if he and the new members of council would have taken the same action previous council members did concerning the 1100 block. However, he is thankful for the Health Plan’s commitment to the city and extended gratitude to the prior city council, the Regional Economic Development Partnership and James Pennington, president and CEO of the Health Plan.

“The challenge before the current city council is figuring out how to best accommodate the increased traffic and commerce resulting from this new facility’s opening, while at the same time, pushing whatever levers we have to encourage additional development,” Elliott said. “The good news is that we are finding developers increasingly receptive to investing in Wheeling.”

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Gerrero Building

On the other side of Main Street, renovations and upgrades continue at the former Gerrero Music store, which closed in 2015. Thalman and Elliott said they believe this building, which is privately owned, will likely become home to a restaurant and multiple residential units.

“With the Health Plan’s grand opening just a few months away, there is an opportunity for a new restaurant to thrive in that location,” Elliott said.

Thalman said the former Gerrero Music location’s building permit lists a restaurant and four residential units, along with an elevator.

Elliott emphasized the need for “market-rate” housing in the downtown area. The Boury Lofts and the Stone Center Lofts are already open, while more loft apartments are planned for the Flatiron Building on Main Street.

“Everything I have seen since being vice mayor leads me to believe there is a very strong demand for more residential housing in downtown. I believe the addition of the Health Plan to downtown will benefit all the restaurants in downtown, and will provide an opportunity for new restaurants to open,” he added.

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