John Basalyga is a proud Scranton native. Born in Dunmore, he and his parents, along with his four sisters, moved to Mount Margaret near Lake Scranton before settling in Elmhurst when he was 13. Being in the right place at the right time presented John with an early opportunity when his next-door neighbor offered him a job in his roofing business, setting him on a path he continues to follow today.

John started working weekends and summers as a ground guy, picking up shingles, but his ambition drove him to aim higher—literally. He wanted to join the installation team on the roof. Despite excelling academically at North Pocono School District, John realized that college wasn’t for him. After spending a year at Delaware Valley University studying decorative horticulture and briefly moving to New York to work in construction for his uncle, he decided to move back to NEPA and start his own roofing business at just 21.

With a “one roof at a time” mentality, John built Eastern Roofing Systems from the ground up, eventually taking on larger projects, including his first major commercial contract at The Shoppes at Montage. His success in roofing opened doors to real estate development, where he focused on revitalizing old industrial buildings. Today, John is perhaps best known for acquiring The Mall at Steamtown, now the Marketplace at Steamtown, where his vision transformed the struggling property into a community hub.

Now back in Mount Margaret with his two daughters, John lives in the house next door to his childhood home built by his father. From his office overlooking downtown Scranton, he shared with us his commitment to making choices that positively impact the city’s growth and revitalization—and, of course, Why NEPA?

How long have you lived in NEPA?

I’m 45, so 45 years, except for eight months.

What do you love about your town?

It’s home. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that you’re born where you are. I think there’s a reason you are and you have to find that reason. Then you have to find your soul mission and make the best of it. If I’m here to be a builder and to inspire people to love their area again, that’s my job. There’s no place like home. There’s no better feeling than walking down the street and having people stop and say, ‘I love what you’re doing—thank you.’ It’s just awesome.

What’s your favorite NEPA restaurant?

I’m going to be biased, but I do believe Olde Brook Inn. I have Farr Street Tavern too and a couple others, but my favorite restaurant is the Olde Brook. It’s just a cool place. We’re going to be doing some renovations there soon. The food is high quality, everything is scratch made and fresh. I know the beer lines are clean. The kitchen is clean. The bathrooms are clean. I know what I’m getting there—top-quality ingredients. It’s hard to make a bad dish when you use good ingredients. Like it’s hard to make a bad building when you use good materials. Farr Street is more of a bar, and that’s great too.

What’s your favorite thing to do in NEPA?

Work. Honestly, that’s what it is. Creating jobs. I opened up Scranton Art Haus and we have a couple dozen people working there. We’ve got Geisinger at the mall and they have hundreds of employees. I’m opening my restaurant in Scranton and I’m going to have dozens of employees.

Let me tell you a quick story—this is why it’s my favorite thing to do. When I purchased Farr Street Tavern, a little place in Tripps Park, I never imagined I’d own it. The day I did a soft opening for the neighborhood there were people that live like—you know how the houses are down there. They are very close together. They’re going in there and they’re hugging each other. Some hadn’t seen each other in three or four years. I thought, wow, I brought these people back together. This is their restaurant. They’re proud of it. People from Clarks Summit were there, and it felt like Tripps Park was back on the map in a positive way. It was just great.

That’s my favorite thing to do. I do stuff for my kids all the time. You have to give them the tools to navigate life, even when it’s tough. Sometimes you have to forfeit being the fun parent to be the right parent, and I love that too. Building, creating, and making an impact—those little things matter and go a long way. It’s pretty cool to be a part of it all.

I’ll say this—you don’t hear the negativity about Scranton like you did before 2015. I had a small role in that change. There’s exciting stuff happening. Take Coney Island, it was about to close after 100 years. Did I want to own a hot dog place? No, but I didn’t want to see it shut down. So, I’m rebuilding it.

What’s next for you?

Right now, I’m opening my biggest restaurant, A’tera, in November. Down below, there’s a live music venue called Sergei’s, named after my father, who was a musician on Broadway. He was nominated as the best accordion player in America, which is a pretty big accolade. When we make purchases for the business and they say Sergei’s, I hear his name every day. It’s cool, almost like he’s alive again. I miss him. It’s a tribute to him.

I’ve got the Nativity (convent and school in South Scranton) project, plus a couple things at the mall. We’re redoing the outside, giving it a facelift, plus the 17- to 22-story tower on Mulberry and Franklin Streets. I still want that to be my legacy project, and it’s very much alive.

I’m also involved in healthcare with personal care homes. Right now, I’m renovating all of my Serenity Care buildings, which are almost done. Coney Island is on deck. The Olde Brook Inn expansions are on deck, too. I bought a few buildings on Wyoming Avenue, Scranton, and I have something in Wilkes-Barre that I can’t talk about yet.

I’ve got a lot of different projects and renovations going on. I own several buildings on Wyoming Avenue and we’re working on them. I’m also involved with the Child Hunger Outreach Program, where we’re building an office in one of our buildings. For Meals on Wheels, we’re building something in another building.

As for the roofing company, we just opened a branch down in Baltimore, Maryland. It’s a very good business that continues to expand. I’ve been focusing a lot on building my hospitality business.

We’ve got Olde Brook, Farr Street, Scranton Art Haus, A’tera, Sergei’s, Coney Island, and I recently bought OTown Bar & Grill in Olyphant, which we’re rebranding as Queen City Tavern. That’s in progress right now. So, the business is growing quite a bit, and I’m staying pretty busy.

Where do you see NEPA heading in the future?

I see NEPA heading in a good direction because the people, who outweigh some of the politicians, are committed to it, and the people hold all the power. Some focus on a small group of individuals who cause many of our issues but we need to look at ourselves and what we can do to make things better.

I think there’s a three-phase plan. First, you need to get people downtown. So, phase one is taking these old, empty buildings and turning them into beautiful apartments. This brings a strong demographic downtown, and we’re already in full swing with that.

Phase two is when people start noticing that Scranton is busier and say, ‘I think I’ll open a coffee shop, tattoo parlor, or hair salon,’ or, ‘I want my law office to be downtown.’ Now, you’ve got restaurants and other businesses recognizing the value of being downtown again.

Phase three is when bigger commercial tenants come in. For example, Fidelity Bank bought the Scranton Electric building, and I think they’re bringing close to 200 employees and good-paying jobs. That’s a headquarters, an anchor tenant, like what we lost at the mall. You start getting these anchor tenants back, recognizing the value of being downtown because that’s where it’s conducive to do business. That’s what I see happening more and more in the future.

Why NEPA?

I believe God put me here for a reason. I was born here, and I always fight for my home team. I’m a Scranton guy, right? Scranton is our big city, our nucleus. If Scranton thrives, Moscow thrives. Clarks Summit thrives. Olyphant thrives. That’s why I believe this is the engine we need to get going again. This is where we have to focus our energy, because if Scranton works, everything around it works too.

So why is NEPA home? Because I’m supposed to be here. Whether it’s building buildings or creating jobs, I’m just going with what feels right. One day, I might get tired of building, and I’ll stop. But for now, I feel like building, so I’ll keep going.