ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An affordable housing developer on Tuesday took its first steps to opening a new complex in Allentown.
Cortex Residential got the city Planning Commission's conditional approval to build a four-story complex with 52 affordable units at South 8th and Walnut streets.
- Allentown City Planning Commission on Tuesday approved plans for an affordable housing project near downtown Allentown
- Plans show a four-story, 52-units building at 40 S. 8th St.
- Many of those units will be for residents earning 20% or less of the area's median income, developer Jonathan Strauss said
The project would require the demolition of the parish house next to Life Church on South 8th Street.
That part of the property then would be used for the affordable housing complex, Cortex Residential Principal Jonathan Strauss said.
The historic church would not be touched as part of the development.
The proposed project is across South 8th Street from City Center's Center Square Lofts, a market-rate complex.
Strauss said the new building is being designed with an "elegant, classy" exterior so that people standing near the intersection "won't be able to tell" which complex is affordable housing.
'Really hard to execute'
Many of the 52 units would be set aside for residents who earn 20% or less of the area’s median income, he said. The building also will include units for residents who earn 40%, 60% and 80% AMI.
Allentown's area median income was $47,703, according to the Census Bureau's 2021 estimates.
Affordable housing is “something that everybody talks about, everybody wants, [but] it’s really hard to execute."Cortex Residential Principal Jonathan Strauss
Strauss said the project will be funded in part with federal low-income housing credits.
Affordable housing is “something that everybody talks about, everybody wants, [but] it’s really hard to execute,” Strauss said.
Cortex Residential has "executed a lot of acquisitions and repositioning of existing affordable" housing, Strauss said.
He told planners the company owns about 500 units.
Earning support from Allentown planners was Cortex Residential’s first step in the city approval process.
The project also will have to work with the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, which administered the federal tax credits, Strauss said.
He credited local officials and state lawmakers for showing "tremendous support" for the project.
Housing units 'desperately needed'
The developer said he hopes to secure tax credits for the project early next year, with demolition and site work to begin shortly after.
The building’s first residents could move in by the fourth quarter of 2025, he said.
“But I’m most excited to see the prospect of additional housing units being added to Allentown, where we so desperately need it."Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk
Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk said he has worked with Strauss for several years after the developer reached out about developing affordable housing in the city “early on in my administration.”
Tuerk said he saw renderings of the building for the first time Monday and is “really excited” to see how it blends in with the rest of the area.
“But I’m most excited to see the prospect of additional housing units being added to Allentown, where we so desperately need it,” he said.
