Demolition underway at former Olyphant bridal shop; new apartments, storefronts coming to borough

Demolition crews ripped into a defunct bridal shop in downtown Olyphant this week, making way for new storefronts and upscale apartments.

Developers Adam Guiffrida and John Wilkens began razing the former Sullum’s Bridals of Olyphant, which closed in 2016, on Tuesday. Guiffrida expects to complete demolition next week at 129-131 Lackawanna Ave.

In its place, they intend to build a new three-story building that will house two businesses and two apartments on the first floor, four apartments on the second floor and four apartments on the third floor, Guiffrida said. It is one of three projects by the developers to build apartments and storefronts in downtown Olyphant.

Guiffrida anticipates spending about two months on planning and permitting before breaking ground at Sullum’s. He hopes to complete construction in summer 2025.

Operating as Scranton-based 545 Prescott LLC, Wilkens purchased the Sullum’s building last year.

They opted to demolish the building due to its condition, Guiffrida said.

“I’ve been in the business for a long time, seen a lot of crazy structures,” he said. “This was definitely the worst structure I’ve seen.”

Beyond being covered with asbestos, which had to be removed, the building appeared to have two poorly done additions over the years and was sinking down in the middle, he said.

Two-thirds of the building were constructed with wood framing on dirt with no foundation, Guiffrida said.

“It was totally rotted out,” he said.

Steel I-beams were also installed incorrectly to support the building during the additions, and the beams supporting the sidewalk area in front of the building were rusted out, he said.

“You could literally poke your hand through the metal I-beams,” Guiffrida said. “It was that gone.”

At three stories, the new building will have a smaller overall footprint than the current building — creating room for a parking lot in the rear — while having about 13,200 square feet of space compared to the existing building’s 10,000 square feet, Guiffrida said.

It will be a similar height to the existing building and is capped at 34 feet high, he said.

Apartments will mostly be two-bedroom units at about 950 square feet with central air, luxury vinyl flooring, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, Guiffrida said.

Guiffrida does not yet have rental rates for tenants.

‘A game changer’

In addition to the former Sullum’s building, Guiffrida and Wilkens are working to redevelop a fire-damaged building at 401-407 Lackawanna Ave. and construct dozens of townhouse-style apartments at a former slaughterhouse site at Hull Avenue and Ash Street.

“This is a game changer for Olyphant,” Guiffrida said, lauding borough officials for being proactive about developments in the town. “I see Olyphant growing leaps and bounds once these are all done.”

Similar to the Sullum’s project, Guiffrida said they plan to have four commercial spaces on the first floor and 12 apartments across the second and third floors.

The apartments will have the same amenities as the Sullum’s project, though they will be mostly one-bedroom units with roughly 600 to 800 square feet of space.

So far, crews have gutted the building down to its studs, spent months hauling out garbage, cut down trees, set up temporary electrical service and installed a new roof, he said.

Guiffrida hopes to start working on the exterior as soon as they have their permitting in place before moving inside, ideally bringing tenants into the building by the summer of 2025.

Finally, Guiffrida said he is still tied up in his appeal of the Olyphant Zoning Hearing Board’s rejection of several key variances last year for his project to build upscale housing at the site of the former Atlantic Veal and Lamb slaughterhouse complex.

Guiffrida went before the board Aug. 31 seeking zoning relief for 42 apartments across five clusters of three-story buildings at the site of the once-condemned, now-razed slaughterhouse complex at Hull Avenue and Ash Street. Known as the Studebaker Lofts — a reference to a Studebaker sign embedded in the brick wall of a former car dealership attached to the slaughterhouse — each apartment is slated to be three stories, with a first-floor two-car garage, a living space and kitchen on the second floor and two bedrooms and a laundry room on the third floor.

Guiffrida bought the property as a blighted slaughterhouse in 2022 and expedited its demolition in February 2023 following an arson.

Explaining his investment in Olyphant, Guiffrida said he believes residential housing will remain in high demand, the borough is centrally located, and taxes to live in Olyphant are lower than Scranton.

“All three of these projects will feed off of each other,” he said. “The more professionals we can bring into the area, the more new construction, the nicer we can make things.”

‘Great news for downtown Olyphant’

After spending more than four years running her women’s apparel shop next door to the shuttered Sullum’s building, Kim Evans, the owner of theKimmy, was enthusiastic about her new neighbor.

“It’s great news for downtown Olyphant,” she said. “It’s great news to the business owners.”

The new developments will draw more revenue into the borough, and having every storefront occupied makes the town more attractive to visit, Evans said.

“It’s definitely near and dear to my heart to make our borough thriving again,” she said.

Council President Jimmy Baldan said the Sullum’s project will be the first new building constructed along that stretch of Lackawanna Avenue in the last 100 years.

Borough officials have emphasized revitalizing their downtown in recent years, and Baldan believes the borough’s location with traffic from the Abingtons, Scranton, the Midvalley and the Upvalley has attracted development.

“The developers are coming in, and they’ve seen the welcome that they get from council, and they see that the future is bright,” he said. “An investment into the downtown Olyphant is going to pay off in dividends.”