Committee backs $300K in 'foundational support' for new nonprofit to promote downtown Allentown

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A still-forming nonprofit could be “the missing link” for Center City Allentown to finally reach its potential, according to a councilman and downtown business owner.

“We have all the pieces,” Councilman Santo Napoli said, talking about the area's many assets, including the PPL Center and Archer Music Hall, numerous cultural institutions and thousands of parking spaces “within three blocks of everything.”

But Napoli said it’s “blatantly obvious” what downtown Allentown is missing.

“What we don’t have is an organization to professionally tie it all together,” Napoli said.

On Wednesday, he and his colleagues on Allentown City Council’s Community and Economic Development committee — Cynthia Mota and Daryl Hendricks — recommended the full body invest $300,000 in a Main Street program led by the Downtown Allentown Alliance.

‘Foundational support’

Alliance board Chairman Matt Malozi and Vice Chairman Kyle Edwards said they are seeking “foundational support” from the city and other contributors as they work to establish the nonprofit.

The new nonprofit is distinct from the regional Chamber of Commerce’s Downtown Allentown Business Alliance, which coordinated a Hamilton District Main Street Program.

And it will be much better-funded than its “precursor,” Malozi said.

A $300,000 grant from the city would “unlock” almost $1 million in other funding; the organization then would work to grow its private contributions, he said.

Downtown Allentown Alliance aims to develop Center City into a thriving attraction “that would resonate not just locally, but also … super-regionally” within five years, Malozi said.

Among its planned first steps is hiring “block by block ambassadors,” who would be tasked with reporting any issues and offering recommendations and directions.

That would help spread positive “messaging” about downtown Allentown, which “will be very important,” he said.

Officials, businesses and advocates worked for decades to raise downtown Easton’s profile to its current status, but Allentown can undergo the same transformation much quicker, Malozi told the committee Wednesday.

“We’re starting at a much more developed and evolved position in our downtown than they did,” he said.

'Economic engine'

Mark Hartney, the city deputy director of community and economic development, said he has “longed to see” an organization such as like the alliance launch in Allentown after getting an “up-close look” at how a public-private partnership transformed downtown Easton.

Hartney served on the Greater Easton Development Partnership board for about five years.

“Seeing Allentown really start mobilizing and building that coalition-of-the-willing to create a welcoming downtown for residents, for our visitors, it's very exciting to me,” he said.

The Downtown Allentown Alliance’s designated area will cover less than 2% of the city.

But that zone includes about a sixth of all businesses and employees and generates significant portions of the city’s tax revenues.

“That’s why [city officials] focus on these areas — because it’s such an economic engine to the rest of the city,” Hartney said.

'Empty vessel'

An urban planning consultant in December said downtown Allentown was on the brink of a breakthrough but needed better management and coordination.

Center City is “safe, statistically,” and has great infrastructure and top-notch amenities, Philip Barash of Public Sphere Projects said during an event at the Baum School of Art.

But the city doesn't offer enough reasons for visitors to stick around long, he said after a six-month analysis.

Barash said a “strong downtown management organization” that “curates” retail and other businesses could significantly boost the city.

He called downtown Allentown "an empty vessel" for a management organization — now the alliance — to fill.