NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
18 June 2003

GROUNDBREAKING CEREMONIES HELD FOR NEW 18-STORY MARKET SQUARE PLAZA OFFICE TOWER

Harrisburg, PA—Harrisburg’s Market Square will soon host another signature office tower as Mayor Stephen R. Reed and officials from Market Square Plaza LLC today conducted groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Market Square Plaza office tower at 17 N. Second Street. Site work for the 18-story, 311,276 sq. ft. tower, which will be a major addition to the city skyline, will get underway this month and completion is expected sometime in early 2005.

The Mayor said Market Square Plaza LLC is owned and operated by noted midstate developers Anthony Pascotti and Tom Flynn. When completed, the building will provide new first-floor retail space, expanded convention and meeting space for the adjoining Harrisburg Hilton Hotel and Towers on the second floor, eight stories of parking space, and eight stories of Class A office space. Each floor will contain approximately 17,200 sq. ft., and the tower will be connected via an enclosed pedestrian bridge to the existing Hilton, Whitaker Center, Walnut Street Garage, Walnut Place Office Tower and Strawberry Square.

Reed said the 246-ft. tall Market Square Plaza will be built on a long-vacant surface parking lot, and will connect to the existing Walnut Street Garage with parkers accessing the new building’s parking levels through the ten-story center city garage. The vacant building housing the former Quicki Lunch eatery and the Central Democratic Club will be demolished to make way for the new office tower.

The Mayor and the developers said the new office tower will be primarily constructed of pre-cast concrete shaded to match the existing surrounding downtown buildings. An architecturally distinctive aluminum curtain wall will be installed on the southwest side of the building, facing Market Square, to provide a striking visual image to approaching motorists.

Joined by the Market Square Plaza LLC principals, State Senator Jeffrey Piccola, the Dauphin County Commissioners and other midstate officials, the Mayor noted during groundbreaking ceremonies that “Market Square Plaza represents a very significant amount of private developer investment in center city Harrisburg.

This is a magnificent project that will provide extensive benefit to downtown and the city, and our sincere appreciation is appropriately extended to the principals of Market Square Plaza LLC.”

Developer Anthony T. Pascotti said more than 70% of Market Square Plaza is already rented to future tenants and they expect it to be fully leased before the building officially opens in 2005. “We intend to make Market Square Plaza one of the premier locations in the state for business office space,” said Pascotti. “This will be a signature building for center city Harrisburg, and because of its location and connectivity, will be a prime spot for businesses wanting to be close to the state capitol and downtown’s many other amenities.”

Two of the parking floors have already been long-term leased to Dauphin County for tenants of the now-privatized Veteran’s Office Building in the first block of Market Street.

Pascotti and the Mayor said the new tower is being designed by the city-based architectural firm of Murray and Associates, with the R.T. Reynolds Company serving as Construction Manager.

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