Lawrence County Board of Realtors, and the City of New Castle say the green light is out for developers, investors, and entrepreneurs interested in developing commercial properties and real estate.

"In my role I have the opportunity to apply for about 19 different grants, programs through the National
Association of Realtors. And the projects span housing opportunity, place making, smart growth, commercial innovation, so we have a broad tool kit of funding that we can use to put projects and plans in motion," Justin Capouellez, Government Affairs for the Lawrence County Board of Realtors said.

There are signs of new development , new bars, and restaurants downtown.

Plus there's the Historic Warner Cascade Theater Museum at the Riverplex to visit in New Castle.

"There's the Union Station Craft Distillery. We had Neshannock Creek Brewery, and just this week we had a new Asian Fusion Restaurant called Le Resto open," Brian Burick, Director of Citywide Development Corporation of New Castle said.

In addition two developers transformed office space at two different buildings into 22 new market rate apartments downtown which were rented out in about two weeks.

On East Washington Street a pocket park is being developed with a dog park, with areas for people to sit, plus a bike rack to help drive foot traffic downtown.

New redevelopment is eligible for property tax breaks in downtown New Castle.

"City Council of New Castle has given approval, a company is going to build a new five story building, with new retail space on the first floor, and four floors of apartments above it. So we're very excited that new construction is going to be happening in downtown New Castle," Burick added.

He adds there are other potential properties that can be rehabilitated, renovated or reused for new purposes.

"Most of downtown New Castle is called a Federal Opportunity Zone, so there are tax advantages to investing in downtown New Castle," Burick said.

Guest speakers included successful developers and the Mayor of New Castle.

In addition, staff from the planning department was there to answer questions.