ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A parking lot in the shadow of the PPL Center soon could be the site of major redevelopment in Center City.
Allentown Parking Authority, state Sen. Nick Miller, city officials and City Center Group are seeking proposals to reimagine a swath of mostly vacant properties in the first block of North Seventh Street.
Those partners are looking to secure a developer who will build a mixed-use space, which likely means a building with ground-floor commercial units along Linden and Seventh streets, some of the city’s main corridors, with housing on upper floors.
“The next step in the evolution of the city is creeping off of Hamilton Street right now."Mayor Matt Tuerk
The property’s current tenant, a 7-Eleven convenience store built almost a half-century ago, could lease a unit to remain or relocate, according to officials.
Developers must present plans for both scenarios, and the chosen developer must build parking infrastructure to support its project.
Hamilton Street has long been viewed as Allentown’s Main Street, but Seventh Street is no longer far behind, according to Mayor Matt Tuerk.
A developer can be “one block off of that epicenter of activity” and “participate in all the good stuff that’s happening … downtown by building on a site like this,” Tuerk said.
“The next step in the evolution of the city is creeping off of Hamilton Street right now,” he said, highlighting what he sees as a “newer kind of center of exciting activity” on Seventh Street.
'Space-challenged' city
Tuerk welcomed the prospect of development on what he called “a bummer piece of property that holds real promise for an exciting future.”
A surface parking lot, like the one that covers much of the bundled properties up for sale, creates a heat island and “has a way of killing a neighborhood" because it’s underutilized space.
“It’s not a great use of space in a city that is space-challenged,” Tuerk told LehighValleyNews.com. He said the 100 block of North Seventh Street is “kind of a desert.”
A convenience store at the corner of a major downtown intersection also is “suboptimal” for “the city that we live in now,” Tuerk said.
“To redevelop it, to build something on that site, presents an opportunity to just continue, building out the city, our downtown. ... There’s a chance to build something for the current and future Allentown.”Mayor Matt Tuerk
A successful redevelopment project would help “bridge the gap” between two of the city’s major business corridors, the mayor said.
About 63,000 vehicles drive past the project site along Seventh Street each day, according to the parking authority.
“To redevelop it, to build something on that site, presents an opportunity to just continue, building out the city, our downtown,” Tuerk said.
“There’s a chance to build something for the current and future Allentown.”
Allentown Parking Authority Executive Director Jon Haney said the partnership between his agency, city officials, Sen. Miller’s office and City Center is “a statement about what’s possible when everyone at the table is focused on progress.”
Parking authority Chairman Ted Zeller said the project “is an example of what a functioning government and community look like.”
Developers must submit proposals by 4 p.m. Feb. 27.
