Mohegan Sun area property values soar

From Fort Wayne News-Sentinel 3/11/2007:

Property values near Mohegan Sun take off
DAVID FALCHEK
Scranton Times-Tribune

"WILKES-BARRE, Pa. - Don't blink when driving on Route 315 between Pittston and Plains Township. You might miss something.

In drawing gamblers since opening last year, Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs has sucked traffic from exits off Interstate 81 through exits at Pittston and Plains townships and jump-started development and redevelopment on the state road.

Asking prices on some properties near the casino are close to $1 million per acre, making it some of the most expensive real estate in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As the weather warms and Mohegan continues in earnest on its $150 million slots hall and commercial complex, landowners and landlords in the area expect the nibbles they've been seeing to turn into bites.

In time, some businesses that now appear out of place, such as equipment dealers and an auto salvage yard, will likely be replaced.

"I keep telling my kids to look around here," said Charles Adonizio III, a real estate agent and property owner on the road.

"In two years, this will all look entirely different."

But the development of the strip is limited. A swath of the east side of Route 315 runs so close to Interstate 81 that it leaves no space for development. Other sections are burdened by rock outcroppings or owned by unlikely sellers, such as the Oblates of St. Joseph, a major landowner. Parts of the strip have few or even no services, lacking natural gas, sewer or storm drainage. Nevertheless, the speculation has begun.

In commercial real estate, implicit in the well-worn mantra "location, location, location," is "traffic, traffic, traffic." Longtime business owners on the road saw an immediate impact once the slots started humming and cars started passing.

According to the state Department of Transportation, average daily traffic on the route near Jumper Road was about 7,500 cars per day in 2006, the year Mohegan Sun purchased the Pocono Downs. That's expected to increase as Mohegan Sun expands, although PennDOT has no current figure, and the Mohegan Sun is working on a traffic study.

Property values, or at least asking prices, have soared." .....

For complete story see: http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/16879885.htm