The Scranton Redevelopment Authority is seeking separate sealed proposals for an individual or firm to provide North Scranton Neighborhood Study & Plan will be received online by the City of Scranton Controller via the City’s e-Procurement Portal until 3:00 pm, Tuesday, January 30, 2024, at which time such bids will be opened in City Council Chambers on the 2nd Floor of City Hall. A video of the bid opening will be available for public viewing at www.youtube.com/user/electriccitytv570 subsequent to the live opening.

SCRANTON REDEVELOPMENT  AUTHORITY

North Scranton Neighborhood Study & Plan

The Scranton Redevelopment Authority intends to partner with a qualified consultant, or team of consultants, to develop a North Scranton neighborhood study and plan that builds upon the vision and goals of the Scranton Strategic Economic Development Plan, which; identifies and responds to current conditions and issues; and guides public and private investment and resources over the next 10-15 years. Additionally, this planning process is intended to build upon the work recently completed for the Scranton City’s downtown plan, Scranton Downtown Connectivity Plan, by working with stakeholders to collaboratively expand planning efforts to the neighborhoods surrounding the downtown core.

Specifically, the purpose of this planning effort is to:

• Develop a broadly supported and achievable vision for the North Scranton neighborhood.
• Define and understand the issues and forces affecting the North Scranton neighborhood, as well as opportunities to thrive.
• Develop a mutual understanding of the desires and concerns of all stakeholders, to improve communications amongst stakeholders, and to manage expectations of participants in the planning process.
• Synthesize existing plans and policies with any identified new vision and/or goals for the North Scranton neighborhood, and to prioritize competing goals.
• Identify and define actions necessary to address issues and achieve identified vision/goals.
• Guide private development and public improvements in accordance with identified vision and goals.
• Outline a housing strategy which contemplates and accounts for such things as affordable housing, market forces, land use & housing regulations, and diversity of housing options.

Proposals shall be made upon the specifications included in the official Proposal Request which may be obtained by visiting the City of Scranton’s e-Procurement Portal, https://secure.procurenow.com/portal/scrantonpa. If you intend to submit a proposal, you shall register on the City’s e-Procurement Portal. Once registered, companies may view and click "Follow" to be a prospective Respondent for this solicitation and will appear on the follower’s list. Companies that fail to follow this project will not receive automatic addenda notifications, nor will they be able to draft a response in the City’s e-Procurement Portal, and therefore will be unable to participate or be considered for this RFP.

All proposal documents and supplementary documents must be uploaded and submitted using the City’s e-Procurement Portal prior to 3:00 pm on Tuesday, January 30, 2024, as instructed in this solicitation. Once file(s) have been uploaded and the submission status shows as “Submitted,” the submission is complete. At that point, the Respondent's representative who is registered with the City will receive an email confirmation from the City’s e-Procurement Portal.

All proposals must be accompanied by a certificate of insurance, a signed affirmative action, non-segregated facilities, non-collusion affidavits, and disclosure by current contractor.

All communications regarding technical, scope, and/or project related questions and requests for clarifications, changes, exceptions, and deviations to the terms and conditions set forth in this RFP shall be submitted via “Q&A” through the City’s e-Procurement Portal, before the deadline of 3:00 pm on Monday, January 22, 2024 and according to these specifications herein.

If a Respondent encounters any technical difficulties utilizing the City's e-Procurement Portal, a representative may contact OpenGov, the Software Administrator, using the real-time chat function on the website (located in lower right-hand corner of the screen), or via email at [email protected]. It is still the Respondent's responsibility to ensure that their response is submitted before the deadline.

With a population of 12,292, North Scranton is a working-class neighborhood situated in the City of Scranton, the most populous city in Northeastern, Pennsylvania and the Wyoming Valley metropolitan area, making the City of Scranton the 6^th largest city in Pennsylvania. The City of Scranton’s neighborhoods serve as a regional economic hub for the Northeastern Pennsylvania region, a burgeoning robust and diverse economy having specific strengths in the medical, agricultural, education, entrepreneurial, and retail industries.

The Scranton Redevelopment Authority intends to develop a comprehensive study and subsequent plan that will focus on local impact but with sustained economic development will benefit the North Scranton neighborhood, City, county and the entire geographic region. The City of Scranton’s proposed plan must be consistent with the Northeastern Pennsylvania Alliance Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ARC Development Plan by focusing on the same goals of building capacity and leadership as well as stimulating economic growth. The project will also align with The City of Scranton Strategic Economic Development Plan. The goal of the study and plan is to support community development, housing affordability, and economic prosperity.

North Scranton Neighborhood

North Scranton, first known as the borough of Providence, merged with Scranton in 1866. Railroads and the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail hug the river in North Scranton, accompanied by light industry and historic housing. Rather than a clustered business district, small businesses are scattered throughout North Scranton, particularly along North Main Avenue and Providence Road.

The North Scranton neighborhood is situated around prominent parks, or commercial node, and the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail runs nearly the length of the neighborhood, before crossing the river. Population, density, and land use can vary from block to block, resulting in a diversity of the neighborhood with unique strengths and issues.

Issues

There have been many issues identified by various stakeholders in recent years that are unique to North Scranton or that are important to keep in mind.

Housing is a multi-faceted topic that encompasses several issues, including lack of affordable housing, lack of diverse housing options, property maintenance, & neighborhood character. The core of the North Scranton neighborhood is predominantly residential in nature, with a Main Avenue mixed use and commercial corridor. The residential areas mostly consist of single-family detached houses, originally constructed over 60+ years ago. There is some multi-unit housing sprinkled throughout the neighborhood and, more recently, there has been larger-scale multi-dwelling redevelopment taking place near downtown.

Because the neighborhood contains some of the City’s oldest housing stock, there is a concentration of property maintenance and blight in this area of the City. Maintenance and blight issues associated with the age of buildings can be exacerbated by the conversion of previously owner-occupied houses into rental units.

Similar to many other areas of the country, the City of Scranton has seen some increase in property values over the past decade, which has been a relatively sharp increase over the past 3 years or so. Increases in local wages have generally not kept pace with property and housing costs, which has contributed to growing concerns for housing affordability. Additionally, increased growth and activity in downtown Scranton and proposed Amtrak rail development will increase market demand for property in neighboring areas.

Redevelopment and infill projects proposed within established North Scranton can result in situations where the City must grapple with competing goals—namely, how to reconcile increased infill and density with preservation of neighborhood character and identity. From City staff’s perspective, this is one of the more challenging and contentious issues and is also one of the most visible in terms of media coverage and civic dialogue.

Being one of Scranton City’s oldest, the North Scranton neighborhood also contain most of the City’s aging infrastructure. Consequently, there are many issues relating to infrastructure that are concentrated within these neighborhoods, such as water-main breaks, repair and reconstruction costs, sewer failures, etc. Additionally, when redevelopment does occur, there are often undersized or insufficient utilities in place to properly service the development. Examples include undersized storm sewer lines or outdated and brittle cast-iron pipe.