Potential owner cleaning up Cobblestone's
The York building that once housed Cobblestone’s was a mystery. The boarded up, broken glass façade of the building has remained unchanged since the property was condemned by the city on Aug. 10.
That is, until Wednesday.
York residents strolling by the building noticed the 8-by-11-inch printer paper taped to the front door of the 205 S. George St. property, emblazoned with an image of lasers and the words “Club Laser coming soon."
READ MORE: Cobblestone's owner files for bankruptcy
Jose Estremera, the building’s prospective owner, was in the building Wednesday morning cleaning and repairing the former bar and restaurant with hopes of turning it into a nightclub. Club Laser would be his first in the continental United States, but he managed a pair of nightclubs in San Juan, Puerto Rico, he said.
Estremera said he hopes to open the club in December. He placed a $25,000 deposit on the property, and is slated to buy it for $361,000, said John Birkeland, real estate agent with Rock Commercial Real Estate.
Much of the property remains a work in progress. The building is dimly lit and much of the interior needs to be cleaned. The glass window in the front of the building still needs to be replaced.
But Estremera said things are going to change. Professional cleaning crews are going in later this week. The window is expected to be fixed in the near future.
Estremera plans to have the wood floor in the main hall redone as well. A DJ booth up in the balcony was being repaired and new equipment was added.
The South George Street property was approved for sale Monday by a judge, according to an order in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
But it remains condemned as of Wednesday afternoon, according to Steve Buffington, deputy director of York's permits, planning and zoning department. The building was condemned last month, Dave Michaels, city fire chief said, likely from the water being shut off. The building would need to be inspected by the city in order to operate legally, Buffington said.
Estremera said the water has been turned on, but he has not asked code officials to return for a new inspection yet.
The liquor license, held by Cobblestone's owner Vernon Shire or Veralin Inc., is listed as expired on the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board's website. Shire has applied for it to be held in safekeeping, an LCB spokesman said.
READ MORE: Cobblestone's up for auction for delinquent taxes
The property was listed on the county's sheriff's sale and tax claim listings for unpaid taxes and mortgages this summer, but Shire's Chapter 7 bankruptcy suit removed it from both lists.
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