- Ideal Concepts is proposing a 21-story office building at the corner of Eighth and Hamilton streets
- The developer first needs approval to knock down four historic buildings, some of which have stood there for more than a century
- The 326-foot Ideal Tower would be the Lehigh Valley’s tallest building, if approved as proposed
ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A developer will need to convince Allentown zoning officials to approve the demolition of four historic buildings that stand where he hopes to build the Lehigh Valley’s new tallest structure.
Ideal Concepts President John Pequeno on Monday night detailed his ambitious plans for the northwest corner of Eighth and Hamilton streets to Allentown’s Historical Architectural Review Board, the first step in the city’s approval process for downtown demolition.
The developer is proposing a 21-floor building with more than 300,000 square feet of office space in the 800 block of Hamilton Street, the same block as the under-construction Da Vinci Science Center and the Dream Grand Plaza.
If approved as proposed, the company-namesake Ideal Tower would take the title of “tallest building in the Lehigh Valley” from the PPL Tower just a block east.
“Just as an Allentown resident, I’m excited about this proposal, and I wouldn’t want to slow down or stall it. But as a HARB representative, I find it difficult to suggest that any of these buildings are not historic.”HARB Chair A.J. Jordan
Though the developer’s plans show Ideal Tower with three fewer floors than the PPL Tower, its height of 326 feet would just barely eclipse the iconic Allentown structure.
But the developer must work to secure demolition approval, as four buildings that hold high historical and architectural significance to Allentown currently stand there, HARB members said.
The Historical Architectural Review Board provides comments to the city’s Zoning Hearing Board for demolition requests in the Historical Building Demolition Overlay district, which covers much of downtown Allentown.
HARB Chair A.J. Jordan told Pequeno and his team that supports the proposal “as an Allentown resident,” but it’s his job to ensure developers “put in as much effort as possible” to preserve the city’s architectural history.
“Just as an Allentown resident, I’m excited about this proposal, and I wouldn’t want to slow down or stall it,” Jordan said. “But as a HARB representative, I find it difficult to suggest that any of these buildings are not historic.”
Building bios
The four historic buildings — at 801, 805, 807 and 809-813 Hamilton St. — are the last vestiges of an older Allentown on that side of the block, with each representing its own slice of the city’s evolution.
“These commercial properties … underline Hamilton Street’s transition from a mix of residential properties with small shops to a retail-focused district with large commercial and office buildings,” a HARB review says. “These buildings also signaled the introduction of chain stores and nationwide retailers.”
Henry Hagenbuch opened the Cross Keys Hotel and tavern on the block in the 1770s, shortly after Allentown’s incorporation. The hotel spanned what’s now 801-807 Hamilton St.
About a century later, Hagenbuch’s descendants opened the Hagenbuch Opera House, “the city’s first major theater,” where the building at 809-813 now stands, according to the HARB review.
A grocer later took over the opera house until it was demolished and replaced with the S.S. Kresge Co. Store in 1926. The discount-goods store operated there for three decades, despite a “catastrophic” Christmas day fire in 1933, the review says.
Style points
The Cross Keys Hotel and tavern was knocked down around the turn of the 20th century and replaced with the five-story building that today “stands as an example of Colonial Revival commercial architecture,” HARB’s review says.
Its neighbor at 805 Hamilton St., which marked its 100th year in 2022, “represents an ostentatious period of 1920s architectural design through its Italian Renaissance Revival style façade,” according to the review.
In stark contrast, “the muted Art Moderne façade of 807 Hamilton Street is reflective of the transition ... to the pared-down design of structures erected following the Depression,” HARB’s review says.
“I have often argued that historic districts function best in contrast to an ever-evolving city."HARB Chair A.J. Jordan
The structure at 809-813 Hamilton St. “holds historical significance for its long association” with the S.S. Kresge Co. and its “Spanish Renaissance Revival façade that remains intact at the second story,” according to the review.
Allentown’s Historic Building Demolition Overlay district is “premised on the city’s desire to retain architecturally and historically significant structures,” the review says.
Senior planner Meredith Keller said the added regulations mean historic buildings should only be demolished as a last resort, urging the developer to prove to zoning officials why he cannot reuse or repair them instead.
‘Historic districts function best in contrast’
Pequeno said he wanted to incorporate more of the current buildings into the project but couldn’t due to pandemic-related economic impacts and rising interest rates.
Keeping the historic buildings’ façades for “a project like we’re working on, doing Ideal Tower, becomes pretty much completely not feasible,” he said.
He told HARB members he struggled to rent out offices and use the buildings "as-is" because “there’s so much better space … in downtown Allentown.”
HARB member Glenn Lichtenwalner suggested Pequeno and his company contribute to a fund to help residents who live in historic homes with city-mandated repairs they cannot afford, in lieu of greater historic preservation efforts with their proposal.
“HARB is committed to — and we’re trying our darnedest to — salvage these historic residential areas in the city,” Lichtenwalner said. “These are opportunities to offset the loss of historic structures in downtown Allentown by helping other areas.”
HARB Chair A.J. Jordan said the “contrast” between a modern 21-story tower and nearby historic homes could “bolster our historic districts," echoing Lichtenwalner's suggestion.
“I have often argued that historic districts function best in contrast to an ever-evolving city,” Jordan said.
“We all like this project, but we are losing a very significant historic block here,” Jordan said. “It would be helpful to put in some provisions to mitigate that by helping to bolster our historic districts that surround it.”
At the other end of the 800 block of Hamilton St., developer Don Wenner of DLP Capital plans to convert several floors of a premier office building into more than 100 luxury apartments. That complex is set to be called the Dream Grand Plaza.
The new Da Vinci Science Center is slated to open next spring on the property between the Dream Grand Plaza and the proposed Ideal Tower.
The Ideal Tower would complete the redevelopment of that side of the block.
