Strawberry season is upon us, and so is activity in downtown Harrisburg’s Strawberry Square.
The mixed-use complex will welcome a new Hallmark store called Strawberry Gifts, which will fill the void left by the former Strawberry Patch Hallmark store.
Strawberry Patch, which closed in January due to the owner’s retirement, was the first retail store to open in the square in the late 1970s.
Strawberry Gifts will occupy about 4,000 square feet and is expected to open by early July, according to Harristown Enterprises, which owns and operates the complex.
On the dining front, Juan Garcia, owner of El Sol Mexican Restaurant, will open Fresca Cafe this fall.
The 60-seat restaurant will occupy 2,000 square feet near the Third Street entrance to Strawberry Square. Fresca Cafe will serve a variety of salads, soups, wraps and other healthy foods.
On the retail front, fashion entrepreneur Amma Johnson will expand her Amma Jo showroom and boutique by 1,200 square feet this month. Amma Jo opened in December.
And longtime retailer Ideas and Objects will relocate near the entrance to the square in June.
On the residential side, Harristown expects to open its Flats at Strawberry Square apartment project in late July. Work on the 22-unit upscale loft project began last year.
Harristown’s other mixed-use projects along South Third Street also are well under way. At 18-22 S. Third St., home of El Sol, there will be 15 one-bedroom apartments. Across the street at 19-27 S. Third St., there will be 14 apartments with additional first-floor commercial spaces.
Combined with energy efficiency projects in and around Strawberry Square, a new escalator in the atrium of the square and tenant fitouts, including the move by the state Department of Human Services into the former Verizon Tower, Harristown is investing more than $32 million in the downtown, said Brad Jones, the company’s president and CEO.
