Most of the money to pay for Warren's new parking garage should be on the way within the next ten days.

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell pledged the $7.95 million to pay for the parking garage last year, but so far the money has remained in Harrisburg.

The delay caused the city to seek financing from a bank to pay for the ongoing construction.

But Warren Mayor Mark Phillips said Thursday that he expects the bulk of the money should be on the way to Warren within seven to ten days.

The $5.2 million represents the first installment of the state funding, said Phillips.

The remainder, said Phillips, could "potentially be received very soon thereafter."

Phillips said on Thursday, "As of this point we have yet to receive any of the grant money promised to us by the state."

The process of obtaining the funds, said Phillips, has been a "cumbersome, long process."

Included in the process, he said, have been visits from state personnel to verify that Warren has sources of required matching funds in connection with the "Impact Warren" project.

Phillips said architects had to isolate costs paid by Northwest Savings Bank as matching private funds "to satisfy inspectors."

That process included real estate costs Northwest incurred in acquiring properties for the parking garage on Clark St.

Those real estate appraisals were forwarded to the state at the beginning of last week, said Phillips.

As a result, the mayor said, "We hope to realize $5.2 million within seven to ten days."

Phillips said that while the city did incur some costs in financing the construction while the state funds were being awaited, he did not immediately have an estimate of those costs.

But Phillips said the city was able to collect some rent on the Northwest Savings Operations Center, which is located on the western end of the project area, during the delay and the those revenues have exceeded the interest costs on the financing for the parking garage.

Balancing the rent collected against the interest charges, said Phillips, "There was a net gain."

"Of that 20,000, the part in the basement has garnered the most interest," Phillips said.

The developer has said that one of the city's two senior centers is interested in locating in the Allegheny Point building. Phillips also pointed out that an organization providing care for the elderly has expressed interest in the spot as well. "And there are a couple of others I'm not privy to," he said.

There has also been interest in the building's space on the street level, according to Phillips.

In the Liberty West building, there is also 10,000 square feet at street level and 10,000 square feet at the basement level available. "We now know about half of the street level and the basement will be occupied by County National Bank," Phillips said.

The bank plans to operate drive-through banking services on the lower level, according to Phillips.

Looking at the Impact Warren available space overall, Phillips said, "It's fair to say about half the space has very high interest or has been spoken for with commitments."

Phillips also said that the Main Street Program "continues to seek out any and all retailers that might want to come to the area, that aren't here already, and existing retailers" seeking to expand.

Both the developer and the Main Street Program, Phillips said, "have a vested interest in diversifying the downtown area."

Some retailers have shown interest in the buildings, according to developer Bob Yoder. "We have a couple that we're working with," he said. Yoder declined to name the interested retailers.

He also said the available space is about 70 percent filled at this point.

"It's moving along like I had hoped," Yoder said.