Everyone's here.

It's on his way.

And just for formality.

Let's introduce ourselves.

And then I'll turn it over to Councilman True.

I get that too.

Okay.

Okay.

Mel with a spoon, member of Council.

Tyler, I guess, member of God.

Kathy Shaff.

Here.

I'm Danielle Mina.

I'm project manager with Bosworth Design.

They have Brandon the partner at Costco Design Partnership.

Matt Harris, Vice President of East Side Renaissance.

Olivia Hybox, CEO, Multicultural Health Evaluation Delivery System.

Jasmine Forrest, City Council.

Thanks, Mr.

President.

I'd like to thank Mr.

Harris and the rest of his team for coming down today.

Talk about a project that they mentioned to me, and I thought it would be great for the rest of the city council to hear about it.

So with that, I'd like to turn over to your team.

Thank you.

I appreciate that.

Councilman Troop and thank everyone at City Council for letting us to letting Eastside Renaissance and the Meds team come over and explain what we think is an important project that's going to be taking place and has been taking place on the Parade Street corridor.

This capital improvement project has been in the works for the last couple years.

We presented to in your handout, you'll see some information, kind of an overall white paper describing the program in detail, some of the supporters there.

And so I figured I thought this capital stack that we've secured thus far.

You'll see that in the document that we are here in a request for a million-dollar uh loan.

Chris Grohner, I thought was going to be here.

I've been talking with Chris for the last two years.

Chris and his program supported um, I think 250,000 with the 901 uh kitchen with the um Taste of Love Kitchen for us.

And so we would come back and talk to Chris about um a million dollars regarding this project.

You'll see the capital stack once again there.

We understand that there's gonna be a transition with administration, and so 2026, we're not expecting anything before that, but we felt that it was important to update city council um and what's coming in 26 with this project, and we have uh our team here to talk about that.

So for sake of being redundant with the information you see here, and I don't want to take time because I want to leave time for QA.

Uh I'm gonna turn it over to Olivia, who's the CEO of Meds, and she can go into a detailed explanation of what meds is about and the importance of um this happening along the Parade Street corridor.

And I think she has a PowerPoint presentation to talk about.

Are you gonna do okay?

And the next slide, please.

So this project is really about we talk about building neighborhoods of the future, healthcare access on the lower east side.

Um it's critically important that we continue to invest in the parade street corridor, but building attractive neighborhoods, part of that is having doctors that people can go to.

Um and meds is committed to investing in this neighborhood.

Next slide, please.

A true story.

Next slide, please.

Nope, I should have taken that slide out.

We are invested.

Next slide, please.

We believe in a vibrant, inclusive, and successful parade street corridor.

Um you may have noticed we did open an office.

Next slide, please, at um 826 parade.

Next slide, please.

Um, at 826 parade, October 24th of 2024.

Um, and that office is staffed by an internal medicine doctor who has um dual board certifications in gerontology as well, which is huge for that neighborhood.

There's very few geriontologists in the city of Erie, period.

Um, and then a physician assistant and part-time uh nurse practitioner who is uh pediatric specialists because we know that people in that neighborhood need access to health care.

We projected that we would see 2,000 patients in year one of operations at that location.

We saw 2,000 patients in the first four months.

We people need health care along the parade street corridor.

And at this point, although that building's been open for a year, we've outgrown it.

So we need we need additional space.

When we put this together, we were at 9,000 patients accounting.

So that was six months ago.

Now we're over 10,000 patient visits a year.

Meds is busy.

We're really busy.

2,000 residents of that 16503 zip code lack a health care home.

They don't have a primary care physician, they don't have access to behavioral health counseling.

Um they're just it's a desert, it's a healthcare desert.

56% of that neighborhood makes less than $19,000 a year, which is really important to keep in mind.

And this is something I talk about all the time.

My office sits at 2928 Peach Street, which is pretty close to Federal Hill.

If I get in the car and drive to the one our office at 826 parade, say I live at 2928 P Street or I live at 826 Parade, I've lost 10 years of life expectancy in that 10 minute drive.

People shouldn't be living 10 years less because they live in poverty.

Um med sees everyone in our service area regardless of their ability to pay.

We offer a sliding scale fee for those who are uninsured or underinsured.

And if the sliding scale fee is still too much, we offer a nominal fee, which is $20.

It's $20 to see the doctor, to see the counselor, to see the chiropractor.

And if you can't afford that, then we're just gonna waive the fee completely.

And you get to see a doctor for free.

With uh the parade street uh location, does that make the third location for meds?

That's our third location.

There's the meds harbor homes and then the page tree and then parade, right?

We're not at Harbor Homes anymore.

We're in the basement of the JFK Center.

Okay, they're right across from the WIC office, which is really convenient.

When I was a medical assistant school 2012, 13, I did my externship for meds harbor homes.

Oh, okay.

That's why I've known of the organization and the work that they've done in the community, regardless of people's ability to pay and ability of language access because they've always pride themselves on hiring staff that actually can speak the language of the community that is um patronizing the facility.

So I'm happy to see that um you guys are growing.

Yeah, we the past 18 months have been wild.

Um, can we get next slide, please?

Uh we'll talk about sustainability and budget.

Next slide, please.

So, how does meds exist?

This is always a really important question.

Like, is this a safe investment?

Is this organization sustainable?

Meds is a federally qualified health center look alike.

What that means is that every Medicare and Medicaid patient we see, we receive a flat rate instead of our physicians are um mid-levels, they don't have to upcode the chart, they don't have to say that was uh a three or a four or a five.

Whether you come in with an earache or a heart condition or chronic diabetes, we get the same payment for that visit.

Um, and that doesn't impact the patients.

That's just our that's why our organization is sustainable.

We also hold um the refugee health grant for this region.

There's five refugee resettlement regions in the state of Pennsylvania.

We're the sole grantee and region five.

The majority of medically complex refugees that are resettled in the state of Pennsylvania are resettled to Erie because Meds is here.

We staff from the community we serve.

Um, that's really important.

86% of our staff speak a first language other than English.

90% of our patients are best served in a language other than English.

Um that's important to our mission.

We reinvest in education for the staff.

Um, the Pennsylvania Department of Health does reimburse us for conducting initial refugee resettlement screenings.

You may be wondering, what does that mean now?

Because refugee resettlement stopped in January.

I'll uh answer that question you didn't ask.

That was 20% of our budget.

But because we opened this office at Parade Street, because we're opening more offices on on Parade Street, the demographics of our panel are shifting.

Um Meds has for a long time been Erie's health care home for refugees and immigrants, but we want to be Erie's health care home for everyone who doesn't have access to health care.

Um, and so as our panel shifts, we've been able to make up that 20% in our budget and actually will finish this year as our most profitable year ever as an organization.

Next slide, please.

Um by increasing health care access, we contributed to the narrative that Erie is a community of choice.

Um for families, I'm a mom.

I have young children.

Part of where we decided to live was access to high quality health care.

I live in Northeast.

I don't live in the city.

Next slide, please.

Next slide, please.

So improved access to essential health care services for the residents of the Lower East Side and ensures that young people and their families maintain their health and well being, and it mitigates the need for people to relocate for better health care options.

So I know that if I can't get into the doctor for three months, if my kids are sick and they can't go to the doctor, I'm starting to think is this real where I want to where I want to be long term.

This community hasn't made the investments in my family.

Am I going to continue to invest in this community?

Next slide, please.

As I said, 85% of our employees speak a primary language other than English.

We actually at this point employ more native Ukrainian speakers than native English speakers.

And then I just want to touch on the employment opportunities that this project can provide.

We're going to create jobs for residents, contribute to economic growth and stability.

There's indirect benefits to local businesses.

When you talk about reinvesting in the parade street corridor, creating jobs means we have people who are going to go and eat lunch at Taste of Love.

We're going to make sure they stop by Krausses on their way home because if they don't have it, you don't need it.

We're committed to hiring locally.

We're providing careers for young people and we're encouraging young residents of the city to stay in the city.

Projections, we think this building will probably allow us to add about 50 new jobs.

Next slide, please.

Next slide, please.

Yeah, and I touched on this already.

Vibrant and supportive community engagement environment, higher retention rates in local schools and businesses, and increased community activity participation.

We had an emergency strategy session this morning talking about how are we going to make sure people have food access when SNAP benefits end because 90% of your health care outcomes happen outside of a clinic.

So we're making a multiple thousand dollar commitment, and I'm gonna go buy food tomorrow.

We're gonna make sure that there's food at every local business around Parade Street Corridor because we know SNAP's ending November 1st.

Next slide, please.

Um I touch on community collaborations.

You're right here.

We work with the resettlement agencies, we work with East Side Renaissance, HRSA is our federal, um, the federal agency we kind of answer to, and then PAC is the Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers.

There's 54 federally qualified health centers and federally qualified health center local likes in the state of Pennsylvania.

Um you are all, I'm sure, familiar with Community Health Net.

That's the largest community health center in this area.

Next slide, please.

So again, workforce demographic data, we prioritize hiring qualified professionals from the communities we serve.

We're committed to the professional development of young individuals expiring for two careers in the medical field.

Meds is unique in that we'll cover the cost to get your certified medical assistant um certification, which is a huge barrier for folks because we talk about six to seven thousand dollars for the certification, and you don't get paid for your training hours.

We take care of that.

Um we provide a lot of financial assistance to obtain necessary certifications.

We've also paid for many of our staff to complete community health worker training.

Next slide, please.

There you go.

With your help, we're poised for success.

Thank you.

Olivia, could I just ask you, and I'll put you on the spot because you know this answer regarding what this also does in regards to the ERs and I know Yeah.

So when people have access to primary care, they stay out of the emergency rooms.

An earache isn't an emergency room visit until it is because you can't get antibiotics anywhere else.

Um, and so we work closely with UPMC Hammett, we work closely with AHN St.

Vicents and Leecom because they know that if we're if more people are being seen at primary care level, if more people's chronic health conditions are being managed, we're seeing a lot less folks in the ER, and that's good for everybody.

That's good for every taxpayer, honestly.

Okay, thank you.

Yep.

Can I I want to ask a follow-up question similar to that?

Is there any data to show um there were if if the your presence is also reducing like EMS service rides, like ambulance service rides?

Because I know that that is a huge issue.

And so when we have more accessibility, less people are gonna need because they don't have access to a vehicle and if they can walk to where they're going, right?

You're less likely to take an ambulance to get to where where you need to go.

And that's this is a huge countywide issue.

Right.

Um and so I would just be curious to see that.

I know that's a very very specific kind of question.

So I didn't expect you to have it right now, but I would I would just be very curious around that one.

I I'm gonna have to dig into that's not something we track because we don't offer, we don't have ambulances, but I think that's an interesting, a really interesting question.

I would love to reach out to emergency care to just see how many people are using in those neighborhoods versus coming down.

Like it has utilization rates decreased in those areas.

That's a really I really like that question.

I will look into it.

Thank you.

Do you have bilingual in each uh area?

Every location.

We do.

We have bilingual staff at every location.

Um of our medical provider team, we have 12 primary care providers, and out half of those folks are bilingual.

All of our medical assistants and all but one of our front desk staff are bilingual.

Um now at each office, he might not have we don't, for example, we don't have an Arabic speaker at the parade street office right now.

That's something we're trying to hire.

We have um, but for the most part, we can cover there's like eight primary languages we see, and then 40 others that is on one off.

We have staff who speak each of those languages.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Do you take people from the surrounding area like Northeast Hyper Creek, Fairview?

What have you?

If you make it to us, we'll see you.

Um this isn't part of this project, but we're actually raising capital to purchase a mobile medical unit so that we can bring primary primary care to rural Erie County.

Nice.

So instead of going to like the emergency movement hamming, I can walk in.

Yep.

And we actually have um pediatric urgent care off hours at night because we know.

Well, I know because I'm a mom, my kids don't get sick at 1 p.m.

because that would be very convenient.

Like that would be far too convenient.

It has to be after our doctor's office closes.

Um, and we have Saturday hours for walk-ins.

Um we make sure there's room in the schedule every day for same day appointments.

Mentioned the um pharmacy and the dental, which is very important in regards to that area, what this facility will have.

So um, and uh boss, I'm sure we'll talk more about what's going into the building, but um just driving around the city, you can see how many pharmacies have closed.

Right aid was a huge loss for a lot of folks.

Part of the goal of this project is that we're going to be able to have in-house pharmacy, and that's going to be really big for our patients.

Big time.

If you've ever been on Medicaid or a member of your family has been on Medicaid insurance, you know how challenging it is to find a dentist who takes Medicaid.

This office will have a dentist, and that's going to be just addressing those two needs is going to be so high impact asides from aside from the primary care.

And also with that dental office, we're gonna be working with the school district with their schools with Piper Burley being right around the corner, and of course, hygiene and schools, very important um component to learning without having toothaches and those sort of things.

There's nothing in that area, and so we're gonna be working with the school district and uh systematically bringing in students to get cleanings and that sort of thing.

So that's a really a game changer.

We I wish we could have had the entire second floor, but Olivia needed other space.

But uh, but that dental piece is a big deal, so we're excited about that in that area.

If they may uh it's only about $7800 a month, rent on the property that you can put hundreds of thousands of dollars into repair, or is the owner gonna take care of what it is?

Well, our capital stackers I'm sorry, I don't I don't understand the question.

Let me see.

I don't I'm just going through it quickly.

Um, I guess the Eastside Renaissance owns the building, correct?

Okay, so you're gonna this this is being leased to meds to rent.

Correct.

Okay, so meds needs rent money to pay the east side renaissance.

Correct seven hundred, that's what I'm saying.

Yeah, meds.

Meds will be a uh tenant of the east side renaissance.

Oh yes.

That's confusing meds that for yeah, and the other big thing is you can put the dairy queen back there.

We we approached her on the lower east side.

We approached her actually queen and uh we approached her actually, and she has no interest in restarting it.

So you'll back there.

All seriousness, I'm I applaud you folks.

I I was brought up on Fourth and Walls, so I I know what I'm talking about when I make little jokes about Dairy Queen and Gym City ice cream on eight street.

Yeah, that's how we lived.

Yeah.

The blue moon.

Can a little ice cream on and on with this, but again, we live that way.

That's you know in the summertime.

We put the church bells when bells rang at noon, we ran home for lunch.

When a bills rang six o'clock, we ran home for supper.

And we were back down to the park after that.

Kids don't do that anymore.

And it's kind of a sad thing.

And maybe the park idea that we're gonna be building on, we'll bring that back too.

Yeah.

But uh I went on record a long time ago when we helped uh Bishop Brock the Eagles Nest Gym.

Uh we don't do things from the east side too often.

If ever.

It's about time we start doing it.

Yeah.

There is an east side of C Street.

I pontificated about that deal.

We're delivering side or all sides.

And there's some good, there's more, there's more happening.

Just before I let I'll let before I let Bosswick and Dave and Danielle go.

Six years.

Eastside Renaissance is a grassroots organization, as you know, over six years we've been there.

And there's been over 10 million dollars of investment and counting just along that corridor.

More than what we've done.

And other entrepreneurs, investors are coming to the area.

There's some things that are going to be coming down the line in 26 that are going to be game changers also.

We felt the bank was a game changer on the financial literacy component.

We think this medical piece speaks for itself with life expectancy.

And so as far as economic development, the tax base for the tax roles of increasing um property taxes, not increasing tax um, but blighted property being brought back to life with major investment.

It's a good component for city and taxes.

Quick example, we've we have a $900,000 grant coming to a property we own, a six unit building at 701, 703 Parade Street.

That's going to be starting next year.

So that building's gonna be his its tax role is going to increase.

So the ripple effect of economic development, capital improvement, to your point, Mr.

Brzezinski, of more investment, hopefully coming to the Paris Recorder, similar to what's happening on State Street.

We think there's value in that, and it's long overdue.

So we're just happy to be a part of bringing all this together and doing our part.

So with that being said, I'm gonna turn it over to Dave and Danielle from Boswick.

They do a great presentation and we'll explain the intricacies of the building itself and uh what they've done thus far.

Great.

Sounds good, Matt.

Um I first just want to say that it's it's really an honor to be working on this project.

You know, as you know, at uh my I grew up on the Lower East Side.

You were my teacher at East High School for ninth grade history.

But going way back here, embarrassing you a little bit.

Uh boys.

Yeah.

My parents still live at Trocas there, so we grew up in the 1300 block.

So it what I'm saying is it means something to me.

You know, when Matt came to our firm to talk about this project, I was just all in.

And yeah, what I mean when we started talking to Daniel about it, it was like this is something that we need to get done because it could uh it can grow.

We could um it could be uh investment opportunity for other projects to have the confidence to move forward.

So I just wanted to say that to kind of kick us off here.

But um one thing I was gonna introduce then Danielle's gonna talk about the important part of the building, but just give a little bit about the history and the context of a parade street.

Um, I'm sure you know Parade Street.

It was it was named after the parade grounds from the parade, the military parades that used to go up down the parade street.

So very important uh central artery for for Erie.

Um also um the uh uh late 19th century, it was just bustling.

Yeah, I'm sure you've seen maybe older pictures of it.

There was it was like another state street.

So it was really incredible.

Some of the pictures that we've seen, and we've talked to the Higgins History Center to get some earlier pictures of these buildings to try to just see what it looked like back back then.

Um of course, Krauss Department store has been there for since 1868, I believe, 1886, something like that.

So they've been there forever, they're still doing well.

It's so great to see them.

Um Easterie Turner's, uh, of course, they've been they flourished there for years, of course.

You know, they're not there now.

But I just remember going there as a kid for New Year's dinner all the time with my grandparents.

So it was really a you know a great place, and it could be a great place in the future.

We'll see what happens.

Um, but then in the 50s, as we know, it kind of just went, you know, started going downhill.

Um, you know, less businesses were there, then you know it just became um more vacant spaces, and of course, it it it that's not good for for anybody, especially our our our city and and all the people that live in those neighborhoods.

Um, but recognizing the need, um uh there when the Eastside Renaissance was put together, you know, your team recognized the need for this, and you know, I I applaud you for everything you've done.

Uh and Erie Bank, which has already been completed, is there?

Um, Medz, you know, you attracted Olivia and her team to there, so that's that's so great that that that happened because you know, without East Side Renaissance, who knows what could have happened in the future.

Um we were uh brought on the team um given our experience and health care design and uh uh also adaptive reuse projects, so we're very excited to to be helping Matt.

Um and also uh we we're really there to ensure Matt's success.

You know, we we want this project to be successful and to grow and continue to to help to help this neighborhood.

Um 908-912 Parade is actually the the address of the buildings.

There's three different buildings.

Um and Daniel's gonna talk about it a little bit, but it's a multi purpose hub.

It's gonna house, of course, healthcare services, uh the dental dental office, etc.

Um, of course, existing buildings, as as many know, there's always challenges with existing buildings.

Uh, you know, there's some issues with these buildings, but the uh the benefits far outweigh uh the the uh the the challenges because we're reusing existing building, we're keeping that history, we're gonna try to restore the facade to what it used to be.

Um and then we're gonna put a new use in the building, so it's gonna be uh use that's gonna be used by the neighbors, and uh it's gonna be gonna benefit the that neighborhood uh immensely.

Um the uh uh accessibility, we're providing that we're putting elevator and a stair in, so that'll provide accessibility for floors.

Um, so it'll be a uh a fully functioning building.

So with that, I just want to give an intro.

Danielle, do you want to talk about the building a little bit?

Yeah, sure.

Um I'm gonna stand up actually so I can look at Paul and wait for him to give the next slide.

Um so um when we first when Men's and E said first approached us, um, we sat together and did a programming and block diagramming.

Um, basically taking a look as you can see on the on the screens at each piece and part that Olivia felt that this space really needed.

Um, as we kind of mentioned, you know, the pharmacy and the dental being really important spaces, but also um including PT and OT and mental health and speech pathology.

Um so kind of you know, coming to us, we we kind of made a list of all these items, understood the square footage costs or square footage needs, um, placement needs, and this really helps us, you know, kind of just really enhance not only our efficiencies in designing but also the overall user experience.

You know, Dave mentioned we're gonna put an elevator in, and that just really opens up a wider variety of patrons that can that can use this space and uh um go next slide.

So here are the three buildings, um 908, 910, and 912.

Um 908, they're they're all existing.

908 is the far um right hand property right there that's being pointed out, and that one is um Matt and his team had done some uh a phase one review of the property and assessment to and it was found that it was kind of um beyond repair.

So, with that being said, that the building will be demolished, but we have plans to uh reclaim the space, so don't worry.

Go ahead.

So these are the um just high-level demolition plans.

Um so inside the spaces, those two um 910 and 911 are actually connected inside as it stands.

The first level is completely open and empty as it stands today, and the second floor is apartments.

So we're gonna remove all of the there's four stairwells in there right now.

They don't really make sense the way that they are because of how the spaces will be connected.

So all those stairs will be removed, um, and we're also removing the front facades, but we're going that is an attempt to restore the facades to how they used to be, um, or as closest to as we can find um historical data to what they used to be.

I don't think uh this is just the second floor, like I said, it's existing apartments um that haven't been uh occupied, and I don't I'm not sure how long that but the Matt like Matt said, um, Eastide does currently hold the property.

Um there's there's no issue there.

Um so the first floor, um, you'll come into a waiting room.

This waiting room will hold about I think it's 20 some people in discussions with Olivia and her team.

You're not just seeing one person or two people, you're seeing a family of five or a family of six.

Um, a lot of people who come here come here in numbers.

Um, so we wanted to make sure that this waiting room really accommodated that.

Uh we also wanted to be helpful with wayfinding.

So, right off of this waiting room, you're having you have your reception, you know, you have that first point of check-in.

Um, a lot of people, as we've discussed, who who come here, um, English is not their first language, so having that receptionist there to greet you to help you wait by to help you get through the building is really important and essential.

Um, and then like I said, the elevator we're showing that will go from all the way from the basement, the first floor, and then to the second floor.

On the first floor, we have about three uh or four typical clinic uh exam rooms.

There's some office spaces for the um doctors and their assistants, uh, clean room, soils room, two restrooms, and then your PT and your OT spaces that I was discussing.

In the front, uh, we're also have the pharmacy.

Uh we've actually been working with um Olivia and her team have a pharmacy uh designer that they use, and we were working with them to also provide some level of privacy to the pharmacy so that there's safe there's a level of safety there.

That is not to say that we don't want the facade to still look activated.

So we've also been discussing ways to still keep that facade illuminated, potentially a graphic of sorts that can kind of really still excite and populate the front of the building, but also kind of like I said, create that barrier of privacy and safety for the pharmacy.

As we take the stairs of the elevator to the second floor, you're greeted with another waiting room and receptionists.

This is kind of another nod to that, like I said, that helpfulness in the wayfinding and how to get through the building.

You have these access points.

So we have some uh office offices, but these offices are really important because this is actually where patients will come and talk to healthcare administrators or people to kind of figure out how are they billing, and if they can't bill, like Olivia said, you know, what do we do from here?

Uh so we really want to make it accessible and kind of front and centered right off of that waiting space.

And then you also have ophthalmology, speech pathology, mental health, and then kind of in its own suite, we have the dental suite.

There's restrooms as well on this floor, and then there's an open open office and break area, and then actually there's this conference room, but I think a special part about the conference room to note is not only is this something that meds can use for all of their offices to kind of come and be able to have a meeting together, but also Matt is uh wants that office that conference room to be similar to the conference room that I think is on uh Erie Bank in the Erie Bank space where it's kind of open to the community to use it as needed.

This is just the roof plan.

It's kind of boring.

It needs a new roof.

Uh for the ceilings, we're keeping them pretty simple.

The waiting space, we want it to be awesome and cool.

As you can see right here, this is a rendering of actually that waiting room.

Um, kind of showing kind of really trying to retain the existing character of the building, so these are actually exposed existing uh structural on the deck above, and then um the rest of the room with the clinic rooms will just have a typical drop ceiling.

Uh, this is to help in the acoustics of the room.

We want to maintain that kind of patient doctor confidentiality confidentiality, and uh the rest of the space, like the corresponding, we want to remain open at the pressure, like I said, and really show the the history of the building.

On the second floor, the existing building has just plaster ceilings.

So those are not really anything glamorous to be exposed.

We kind of looked and did a little exploratory demo.

There's nothing as beautiful as this is on the first floor, so we'll just have brand new gym ceilings and then some more acoustics, like I said, to kind of keep that patient doctor confidentiality.

On the outside, uh, this is the new stair tower, which you can see right here in this rendering.

And then this is the elevator in the stair tower.

We're hoping to kind of have some level of glass glazing so that you can actually, it's and it's illuminated, you can see some activity during the day and hopefully in the evening.

So again, we're just trying to really make this space um come alive.

Um, I think important go ahead, hold on to the next slide.

An important thing to note is so as I said, this is actually where 908 currently exists.

This is the building that's being demolished.

We're going to infill that that basement of that property and regrade it so that it actually is a courtyard when you come off of parade street.

So we'll have a gate, they'll be it'll be safe.

Um, there'll be monitored access to this space, but I really think that this will be something that highlights activity on this on this block, and also a really nice ad for for the building itself and the people who really use meds but live on the east side and uh go on the right tree.

Do you want to?

No, no, we do.

Um we're also going to be restoring this facade as I mentioned before.

We're gonna be um demoing most of this, but really trying to recreate um, like I said, how it how it was, how it used to be.

Um like I said with with the safety of the pharmacy.

Um still trying to you know show activation and light, but want to have that layer of safety.

So having some type of frosting, um, maybe you know, some colorful graphic.

I know Olivia's mentioned a lot of times.

Uh, you see opportunities here, here, and then even that graphic to maybe engage a local artist uh to do to do some of these installs.

So once again, just really weaving that fabric of the community and uh what Eastside and Meds is all about.

As you can see on the screen, this is the kind of overall pattern of finishes.

Uh we really want it to feel like home.

There's a nice sketch.

Oh, you know.

Um, just kind of showing a lot of the um here okay.

I'm just so excited.

Yeah, okay.

Um we want to retain as much as we can on this first level of all the uh exposing existing brick walls.

So that's kind of a theme throughout.

And then, like I said, the the wood, the wood structure we want to show, keep exposed.

That's it.

Questions?

Thank you, Daniel.

I work with doctors, they said I'm not contagious.

The questions I have are related to the um stage the the the capital stacking at the at the end.

So when we get to that section when we should go there, just go for it.

Okay.

Um I just see that like so there's uh like four pendings right now, and so with the pendings that we see, I'm just curious.

Like how how pending is that pending?

Is it budget?

We talked to all those, a lot of those are state oriented, and then the uh Erie County DEI Commission, of course, isn't I think their award comes out in November, so we don't know what that looks like.

We've applied for that.

So the project is a 4.8 million dollar project, so we're over that amount just in case something doesn't come through.

So we're building, we build a uh a buffer just in case.

Has the cruise already committed to we presented to the CRIS, and they're waiting on our state budget to clear, also they've approved as far as uh our presentation to them.

Actually, I didn't I mean I know that they approve the parking garage, and they approve the hotel.

Were you in that back?

We were not, we were not.

They're waiting, they uh they want to wait till the state budget passes, and then we presented, and then they're gonna come back to us.

So we know it's 26, so um that's what Brian and their team demonstrated.

So we're okay with that.

You know, we're not ready, we're not ready until the capital stack is complete, but we presented, giving them the numbers, and so we're confident with that.

And then that million coming from the city a low part of Chris Roner's program, the low interest loan.

Yeah.

So you said that that's not moving until next year.

Well, we don't anticipate.

I mean, that's it's November now, so 26.

We would like to make that happen if we could.

That's and I'm getting that from Chris.

Chris was supposed to be here, he's gonna be here to talk about more about that, but he's not here.

Yeah, I've requested for Chris to be at he'll be at our caucus to talk about where loan monies are right now, what's out, what's coming back in.

So we have a better sense of what that looks like.

Can we do that?

Can we offer?

Do we have that money too offering?

Right.

If if everything works out, I mean, when can I walk into the doctor's office?

When are you anticipating that I'd be I'd be able to come after work and go to the doctor?

I'd say if you know, depending on the bidding environment, it could take a year for construction.

We have to finish documents, which we're still in the process of, or in the schematic design phase, and we have to go to design development instruction documents and then bid it out.

So uh I'd say with that said, maybe 18 months or sooner.

Again, I don't want to promise something and have it not possible.

If if we can build it, I can staff it.

I'm very confident.

Like we went from when I started at meds, we had three primary care providers.

I've been there 18 months, now we have 12.

So I know that as soon as construction is complete, I will have I will be able to have physicians in this building.

Question for meds.

Why do you guys continue to rent spaces and not buy your own building?

Well, we did buy our own building actually in August.

Um it's a delicate balance.

So we go where the need is, and there's a need in this neighborhood.

You can look at unmet medical need scores.

This is the highest unmet medical need corridor in the city of Erie.

There's nothing here that we would have wanted to purchase at Eastside Renaissance than already have.

Yeah.

Um, like we're in the basement of the JFK building because there's really high unmet medical need, but there's not a lot of property there that's not suited that turning any existing building into a medical clinic is very expensive.

I guess is the short answer.

I could keep going on that.

We do own 2928 Peach Street.

Okay, so the Pete Street location is yours.

We own the Pete Street location.

How does Wayne School tie into this at all?

And the East Avenue one, the same thing.

There's uh some kind of UPMC.

EPMC just put a facility there.

I think two different two different things.

And I don't know, they talked about their needs also with the ERs as we explain with ER.

So alleviate net, emergency room dynamic, it all we're all working together to do that.

And I know the primary health network that's over in Wayne has somewhere around like a six-month wait list for some of the so it's not like even if these were to be that close to each other, the need is so high that it would be met very like I don't think that they would be related from from what I think.

Have you guys talked to the EMTA about possibly having a bus route go up uh parade street?

I know that when we first did our walkthrough when you guys almost two years ago I had mentioned that there's no access to that.

Yeah.

Yeah, we're in that once construction begins, that conversation is part of our to-do cost.

Absolutely.

All right, because I like I said, I used to live in that neighborhood, and there's one that goes across the I think it's six, and then the tenth.

So you have four blocks of elderly and unable body people who when the snow hits and drop off right in front will be very important.

You drive that area, you see people walking carts to dirty laundry up to Denny.

So you know the need is there.

Yeah.

Agreed.

I'm melting.

I'm sorry if it's not clocking that.

If if the city were able to do the loan, would that make any of these that are currently pending fall into place?

Um that's like one of the biggest ones that I see on here, right?

The direct one is the city, other than the Chris.

Erie community foundation.

Yeah.

We're cut the foundation's gonna support this.

Uh we support it just as a matter of 26.

We're gonna apply.

Meds is going to apply for that, so that's a go.

Um the state, of course, we're all waiting for the state budget, but we've had our conversations with uh PA Black Caucus and their leaders, the speaker of the house.

And so those things are in good favor, regardless of what happens with that.

But as far as the city's uh approving this, it's not gonna change anything.

So I guess then my counterpoint would be uh us approving it might be ahead without anything else in place.

Like would us approving it, the project couldn't necessarily go forward because you would still need some of these other big ones to follow.

Yeah, I couldn't answer that.

I know what you're asking.

I know what you're asking.

It probably would help the Chris.

The Chris is very fine once you've got more things to route, right?

So being able to say that we do have money from the city would go a long way.

Locally, yeah, I guess no one.

So local.

Okay.

These are the projects that I get very excited to push for.

Um this is so incredibly critical, especially on the lower east side.

Uh we I mean, there's just so many decades of disinvestment that it has taken a toll and it shows up in every capacity from infrastructure to a person's well-being to I mean, you name it, it is it is evident and present.

Yeah, and when we see what is about ready to happen at a at a federal level to be able to provide something like this within a local level, I think this is this is how we respond.

Um, and so I'm hoping that these other places are able to step in.

I know some of this is reliant on the federal things like the CRIS.

I really hope.

Absolutely.

I really hope that this is considered and put in because this is this is the kind of thing our community needs desperately.

I appreciate that.

That's so within when you know when you're talking about the CRIS funding, that only funds specific things.

It doesn't, it's not just like a what like you have 1.2 million in that project that that fits with CRIS funding, and to give you an example, like in Lancaster, uh they ended up using CRIS funding to build a parking garage, but really the parking garage was a front for them to put in a library because they couldn't just build the library, but they were allowed to use it for parking infrastructure.

Okay, there's really specific things you're allowed to do.

Um, you you're not gonna be able to build up or put a roof up, but you're allowed to do like foundational and demo type stuff.

There's there's specific things.

Um I just I just want to be clear.

So you've already worked through that with their board or the director to make sure that the portions of your project uh that you're looking for that funding for are the ones that they're allowed to use to fund.

Absolutely.

Okay, oh yeah.

I even remember them asking about equipment.

Uh taking the step further and saying what you'll need equipment here, special dental studio, that type of thing.

Yeah, so that they even took a step further and said that they have funding for that.

So they asked about that number.

Yeah, it's it's it's so it's so narrow that you know you you you have to like milk it in different directions.

It's not like you know, we we use it, we send the revolving loan fund on this, and here's a million bucks, go get it done.

Right.

Uh theirs is so scenario done.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think we went across the, we think we went around their board like three times.

But we got it done, and they see the value also, and um the need for it.

So, yeah, so we've addressed that.

Yeah, they're on board meeting.

We have a good understanding of what's covered.

I helped try and map the map for it.

So I go through the duty one to each building.

We talked about specifically what we were doing to the buildings, and all we'd be qualified for holding that kind of send us.

So we those conversations we only get very clear to be done public if it's like operational costs or anything like that.

So pretty much everything in the next project is covered in response.

Any plans to engage the community about this project?

Um, we did that before, before it started, and the need and through uh Livia's network and the things that she had done.

Um I think I'm not gonna say it speaks for itself, the need of the medical because of the life expectancy.

Um, but we're gonna continue to engage the community is what we do before we go do anything next.

Um that's what we do.

The banking, the financial piece, the community will all be always be put forced, and we don't just roll the dice and say, okay, this fits, this looks good.

We get community input.

And I think even as as Danielle noted about the exterior courtyard uh murals, art work, you know, that outdoor space, what's what should be there?

I mean, those type of things they could definitely have a input on.

That'd be so great to get a group together and talk about what could what could that be?

What more could it be?

Um that'd be exciting to see that.

Yeah, is your insurance very involved in this?

They've financially supported absolutely.

Yeah, and they're actually the uh the donation of the property uh six years ago as a part of our our projects.

Um that was one of this is one of the properties that they supported.

So, but they're a part of the NAP, the neighborhood assistance program grant program in PP.

Yep.

So is there any other business involved?

Are you good with zoning, different infrastructure, any other the main thing for asking city council is the revolving loan funds to see that that goes through?

So any other asks on meeting, sidewalks.

Oh, we did um we did meet with the city and we talked about um the need for parking.

Um there was a need, I think, for about five spaces, and um it's allowed to be within a 500 um foot radius, I believe, of the property.

Um, and I believe Matt, you guys were looking at um property adjacent.

Um for that to be fulfilled, hopefully, yes.

Um, and then if not there, we were also hoping to have discussions about um accessible parking um outside of the uh closer to the to the to the address.

Um the other thing um we had talked about was street trees.

Um we were hoping that was something that was um they were excited about that.

Lighting and street trees, clean the sideways, yeah, um activation of that that area, yeah.

Um but there was no additional um concerns, um I believe.

In what way was it you were hoping for the city to provide parking?

Like the street parking is metered and you don't want it to be, or there's an empty lot that you want to turn into parking lot.

Is there a specific way you're hoping to address that?

There was um I think more, I think right now more of the street level parking until you know there's some other properties in the neighborhood that I was gonna say you're in a waiting game right now.

I know for D um appliance and the other buildings, I know he won't sell.

I've heard from him he won't sell.

Absolutely so um, yeah, so I'm I'm assuming it's a waiting game to be able to finish off whatever your game plan is.

Right now be street street level, and um we're like working with the Benedictine Sisters, which is a building they're behind us, and you know, there's no room behind there, of course, but they're really accommodating, they like what we're doing cleaning up the area.

We're taking down some trees that are on their property, which they're excited about, opening up their little garden in the backyard there.

So um, but it's yeah, parking's gonna be tough, it's gonna be a challenge.

We understand that.

Um until Bobby decides to.

Right?

Yeah, it's gonna be mostly walking too hard for the people working, right?

I think for as a medical clinic, it's gonna be important to at least have two or three parking spots right in front of the building that are marked handicapped accessible.

Yeah, parking authority.

So I don't know if that's your own.

I was gonna note also that the um it is a change of use going from the residential and the upper floor to the uh to this uh uh to the health health care.

It's a business business occupancy, but also we're gonna bring the building ability up the code, the energy code, uh also the uh accessibility.

So there's nothing that's not gonna be done, and we have to do that, and we're gonna do we're gonna do that anyways.

So and then the lot consolidation is required, but that's something that's it'll be one lot, there's three separate lots now, it'll be combined into one.

Yeah, we'll probably think that's what should be Matt.

Did you buy Dr.

Collada's old building uh on A Thun Parade there?

That got Leecom actually owns a Lee Comp does okay.

And they're their their newest locations up next to Mighty Fine.

Are you across from Mighty Farm?

Right here towards it.

There's a vacant lot, there's a lot there that's just grass now.

They tore down this building, and uh LeeCom owns that on the corner or corner, yeah.

Yeah, right.

Oh, he was right on eighth and parade.

Yeah, I just know that the the the drive, the parking lot for LeeCom is very interesting, has like two different entry points, so I know you can take the corner and get it get in, yeah.

So I was curious.

Yeah.

So that's all we got.

I guess the game is buying up what you can until you finish off what you what you hope and dream.

Right.

Because right now there's a lot of things that are going up for sale, and they're just pieces.

I'm curious to the puzzle.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Are there any other questions?

Nope.

In January, we will be having a new mayor and some new council members added to the equation.

So let's see how this uh hope and dream pans out.

Yeah, yeah.

Very uh grave and project.

It's going to bring Parade Street back to the light where it once was.

And uh personally, you have my total support.

Thank you.

As a council person for the next two months, and as a citizen, as a citizen, I'll be out there.

Appreciate that.

I have five minutes to say what I want.

So appreciate you.

Thank you, sir.

Very bold and cheered on it.

Right.

We appreciate your time and your presentation.

Thank you very much.

Thank you guys.

Appreciate your time.

Thank you guys.