Paperwork signed for the sale of the former Lycoming Mall on Thursday afternoon. PHOTO COURTESY OF LYCOMING COUNTY

After months of speculation about when and if it will happen, the Lycoming County commissioners were on their way to the real estate closing for the Lycoming Mall property after Thursday’s meeting.

In a press release from the developers following the finalization of the sale, Jon Jahanshahi, president for Famvest Partners LLC, developers for the mall project, said, “Acquiring the Lycoming Mall has been in the works for quite some time.We are thrilled to be able to move into the first phase of redevelopment of this property.”

The developers have a multi-phase plan to convert the mall property into a mixed-use work/live/play site that will include commercial, hospitality, recreational and residential components.The initial phase includes changes to the initial infrastructure by adding new transportation assets, demolishing, and refurbishing existing buildings, adding new utility assets, and constructing new buildings, according to information from Famvest.

The county’s involvement in the purchase of the failing commercial site in Muncy Township is in providing a $5 million loan to the developers toward the $15 million purchase price for the 135-acre property.

Although prior to the finalization of the sale the developers were not able to be more specific about the businesses planned for the site, they indicated that they had obtained “confidentiality agreements with a number of large tenants, some of which will be new to this market.”

“Officially acquiring the mall property now allows us to have substantive conversations with potential tenants,” Ara Kervandjian, manager, vice president, and secretary for Famvest Partners, said in the release.

“While the list of potential tenants remains fluid, we believe the prospects will provide great economic benefit to the surrounding community,” he stated

In other business, the commissioners approved the following: Suzette Snyder as a member of the Williamsport Municipal Airport Authority; the purchase of shirts for the Lycoming County Fair Communication Operations team from Roger’s Uniforms in the amount of $444; the agreement with Ainsworth Inc. to replace boilers at the Pre-Release Center at a cost of $35,600; and a state Department of Transportation Transportation Planning and Programming grant agreement in the amount of $751,550.

The commissioners also voted to reject a bid received for the Lysock handicap ramp project. The project will be rebid in hopes that the numbers come down, according to Mya Toon, the county’s chief procurement officer.

Under personnel, the following persons were hired at the pay rates listed: Heather Leonard, full-time replacement administrative specialist in Information Technology and Consolidated Services at $17.96 per hour; Matthew Vogel and Lauren Walters, full-time replacement correctional officers I at the prison, $20 per hour; Kylee Dewitt, part-time new position correctional officer I at the prison, $20 per hour; and Nydia McNutt, full-time replacement clerk IV in the Register and Recorder’s office, $17.64 per hour.

The next commissioners’ meeting will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, June 29, in the commissioners’ board room on the first floor of Executive Plaza, 330 Pine St.