ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Dozens of new affordable apartments could be available in Center City within a year.
Allentown and state officials joined leaders from Cortex Residential on Wednesday at South Eighth and Walnut streets, where they broke ground on a 38-unit complex for people with low-to-moderate incomes.
Brittany Ciardi, a senior vice president of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, called the event an “incredible milestone in the heart of Allentown.”
The complex will offer “hope, opportunity and stability for individuals and families who call Allentown home” and help “meet a need for accessible housing in the city,” Ciardi said.
“It's a part of a larger vision, rooted in Allentown Vision 2030, to make sure that as our city grows, everyone has a place here."
'Housing for everybody'
State Rep. Pete Schweyer, D-Lehigh, said the new complex will add to “all the new housing that’s being developed” in the area.
“It's housing for everybody,” Schweyer said. “We have all kinds of options here.
"Regardless of your income and regardless of where you work or where you're from, we have an opportunity for everybody to live and participate in this incredible, incredible downtown.”
Cortex Residential President Jonathan Strauss thanked co-founder Patrick Perone and a slew of elected officials, including council members and the city’s delegation in Harrisburg, many of whom helped secure much-needed funding for the project.
The developer received $14 million from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency and Allentown contributed $2 million from its coronavirus pandemic-relief funds to the project.
And Lehigh County helped fill a funding gap to get it over the line.
'Part of gateway into the city'
Cortex set out to “check two boxes” with its Walnut Square project: building in a place of need and building in an area of opportunity for future residents, Strauss said.
Its location offers “accessibility to urban amenities like public transportation, social services, health care … and most importantly, jobs,” Strauss said.
“It's very important to us that we're building affordable housing that has proximity to resources that can promote socioeconomic growth for [residents]."Jonathan Strauss, Cortex Residential co-founder
“It's very important to us that we're building affordable housing that has proximity to resources that can promote socioeconomic growth for individuals.
“We're proud of this location, and we're proud to be a part of this gateway into the city."
Cortex expects to deliver the three-story, 44,000-square-foot facility in “10 to 12 months,” Strauss said, with pre-leasing registrations to open before its completion.
He also praised leaders of the church next door that sold Cortex its corner property. The developer demolished a parish house on the now-cleared lot to start the project.
“I want to thank Life Church for seeing the vision and understanding the importance of carving out this site” for affordable housing, Strauss said.
The historic church, the former St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church, will not be touched as part of the project, Strauss has said.
