ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Young students could be going to a new school on the former Allentown State Hospital property within a few years.
Developer City Center on Monday got unanimous approval from zoning officials to begin building a 202,000-square-foot elementary school that will serve as an anchor for its massive Northridge development.
Allentown Zoning Hearing Board granted variances that let crews work in areas with steep slopes where the school — for about 1,200 pupils in kindergarten through eighth grade — and several supporting features are planned.
Allentown Zoning Hearing Board continued its practice of letting developers “disturb” manmade steep slopes, such as those that dot the former psychiatric hospital property thanks to its many now-demolished buildings, parking lots and roads.Allentown Zoning Hearing Board
The city zoning ordinance says natural slopes of more than 35% can't be developed on, but there’s question over how that rule applies to steep slopes made by previous work.
The board continued its practice of letting developers “disturb” manmade steep slopes, such as those that dot the former psychiatric hospital property thanks to its many now-demolished buildings, parking lots and roads.
The elementary school will sit on a 16.6-acre lot on the Northridge development’s east side.
It will employ more than 100 people, according to Jack Reilly, City Center project manager.
The Allentown School District is expected to take over the property early next year.
Phase 1
The school represents the first phase of the developer’s ambitious plans to transform the 195-acre property.
Construction is expected to take about 18 months, with City Center executives optimistic the school will be ready for the start of the 2027-28 academic year.
The Northridge development also will include more than 600 townhomes, a “micro-hospital,” offices and other facilities where the Allentown State Hospital served patients for almost a century.City Center plans
The initial phase also includes plans to build a multipurpose athletic field with a 1,300-square-foot maintenance building.
And crews are due to build the first 2,000 feet of Northridge Drive, which would run north and south and connect the development to Hanover Avenue, and a traffic roundabout.
The roundabout, referred to as “the Northridge connector,” will help distribute traffic to other parts of the development once they’re built, Reilly said.
City Center plans to build more than 600 townhomes, a “micro-hospital,” offices and other facilities where the Allentown State Hospital served patients for almost a century.
The psychiatric hospital opened in 1912 and remained in operation until December 2010. Its numerous buildings were knocked down in 2020 before City Center bought the property.
