Miller Bros. Construction Inc., Schuylkill Haven, is planning to build a stand-alone commercial building at Sharp Mountain Plaza, Gordon Nagle Trail, Pottsville.
"We're hoping to start construction in August and have occupancy in January," James L. Miller, president of Miller Bros., said Monday at the site.
Miller said there's a tenant lined up for the building, which is in a C-2 commercial zone, and he said he'll announced the name of the tenant at a later date.
"I don't know when we're allowed to release that. But it's a permitted use, so we don't have to seek a variance to do the project. In a C-2 zone, you can put up a restaurant, office buildings, medical office buildings and almost anything retail," Miller said.
The Schuylkill County Planning Commission will discuss the plans at its next public meeting, slated for 6 p.m. Wednesday, June 18 at the courthouse. If the commission gives the proposal a thumbs up, it will be presented to the Pottsville Zoning Hearing Board and the Pottsville City Council for approval.
Sharp Mountain Plaza is south of Route 209 on the west side of the city. It includes a Sheetz, which Miller Brothers built in 1998 and sold in June 2012 to 900 GNT LLC for $1,775,000, according to the online Schuylkill Parcel Locator.
Just south of that is the strip mall Miller Brothers built in 1999. Miller Brothers sold it in February 2009 to Sharp Mountain Plaza LLC for $1,600,000, according to the parcel locator.
Just south of that is 4.22 acres of vacant land Miller Brothers acquired in 2004, according to the parcel locator. Miller wants to build a one-story, 4,500-square-foot building on that site. "It will have a peaked-tip roof," Miller said. Miller Brothers also wants to establish 45 new parking spaces there.
It's part of the "Preliminary/Final Land Development Plan for Sharp Mountain Plaza Lot 3" he submitted to the Schuylkill County Planning and Zoning office May 23.
The new building will be south of the strip mall on 2.267 acres of vacant land, said Miller, who is a general partner in MBC Properties LP, Schuylkill Haven, the company which owns the land.
Miller Brothers has mapped out space where a second stand-alone building, a 6,000-square-foot commercial property, could be established. But the firm isn't planning to build it at this point.
"As a courtesy, we submitted it as part of the plan so everybody knows there's a possibility we may approach them to discuss that project in the future. Right now, we're just looking to put up the 4,500-square-foot building. We're going to grade the whole site and pave the whole site except for the footprint of that second building," Miller said.
On Monday, Miller Brothers was using an earth mover to remove excess dirt from the area and prepare a staging area for the construction.