SCRANTON — Developer Charles Jefferson sold a vacant building in the 300 block of Adams Avenue to local restaurateur Benny Dzurlic, Jefferson said Tuesday.
Scranton-Adams 318 LLC of Allentown sold the building at 318-320 Adams Ave. to Grille 514 LLC of Scranton for $520,000, according to public records on real estate transactions.
Scranton-Adams 318 LLC is a firm of Jefferson.
Grille 514 LLC has a corporate address of 234 Penn Ave., which is the location of Sambuca Italian Grille & Bar that is owned by Dzurlic.
Efforts to reach Dzurlic were unsuccessful.
Dzurlic’s firms also own Tequila Mexican Pub at 414 Biden St. and Catch 21 Seafood and Steak restaurant at 301 N. Washington Ave., both downtown.
Jefferson acquired 318-320 Adams Ave. several years ago, along with 326 Adams Ave., both of which were the Scranton Counseling Center buildings, under a plan to relocate the center to South Side and redevelop the Adams Avenue buildings. He also owns the Leonard Theater on Adams Avenue, across the street from the former Scranton Counseling Center.
He still plans to redevelop 326 Adams Ave., which has renovations ongoing, including removal and restoration of the facade. But 318-320 Adams Ave. no longer fit into his plans and he decided to sell it.
“That building for me was always a little bit of an oddball for what I do,” Jefferson said. With 11,000 square feet of space, it wasn’t connected to the main Scranton Counseling Center structure, and the vacant building in between them, which has the name Schlager at the top, was not coming up for sale anytime soon, he said. “And even if it did, none of the floors lined up,” across the three buildings, he said.
Jefferson spoke highly of Dzurlic as a reputable restaurateur and expressed confidence he would make something positive out of 318-320 Adams Ave.
“I think it will be good for the street and good for the downtown,” Jefferson said.
Jefferson’s other properties in Scranton include several commercial structures, some of which he converted into apartment/residential buildings. Those include 116 N. Washington Ave. and across the street Connell Lofts; Mulberry 426 at Mulberry Street and North Washington Avenue, the former Chamber of Commerce building; Samter’s Lofts at Penn and Lackawanna avenues, the former Samter’s department store; 200 Adams, formerly the Lackawanna County Administration Building and Stoehr & Fister furniture company; The Herold Building, 618 Mulberry St.; and Montage Mountain ski resort.