ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A developer’s plans to put more apartments in a complex being built in Allentown could lead to a showdown in local courts.
Nat Hyman’s proposal to add 10 units to his Washington Tower project was discussed at length Tuesday by Allentown Planning Commission, which sent it on to the city’s Zoning Hearing Board.
- Developer Nat Hyman detailed his plans to include more units at a proposed apartment complex to Allentown planning officials Tuesday
- The Allentown City Planning Commission moved his proposal forward to zoning officials
- Hyman said he expects the Zoning Hearing Board to again deny his plans, and he’s prepared to appeal
Zoners have denied Hyman’s previous efforts to add more apartments to the 36 that were approved in 2020 for the property at 938 Washington St.
Hyman, chief executive officer of the Hyman Group, said he expects the zoning board again will deny his proposal, and he’s prepared to fight that decision in court.
Moving targets
Since receiving approval to build 36 apartments at the former silk mill and warehouse, Hyman has made several proposals to include more units.
Hyman said he wanted to put 50 units in the building, but withdrew that proposal before seeking approval for 48 units. Zoners unanimously denied that last summer.
Certainly it's my hope that the zoning board rethinks our argument. But if not, then we’ll have to take that course and go the legal route.Developer Nat Hyman
Board member Alan Salinger said in 2022 that Hyman’s proposal would increase density at the building and decrease the square footage per dwelling unit, a requirement the board already had eased for Hyman two years prior.
Zoning ordinances require newly constructed residential buildings to provide 1,800 square feet of space per dwelling unit, officials said.
The Washington Tower building has been around for decades, but a similar, new apartment complex with 36 units would require almost 65,000 square feet of space, while 46 units would require more than 82,000 square feet.
The property at 938 Washington St. is about 14,000 square feet, zoning board member Scott Unger said last year. That would provide about 306 square feet for each of the 46 planned units.
Ready for court
The zoning board should not grant additional relief for Hyman’s project because he did not prove he’d suffered any additional hardship since the board’s previous approval, Unger said.
Hyman said Tuesday he “didn’t agree” with the zoners' decision to deny his plans for 48 apartments. The developer said he would have appealed the denial but legal deadlines lapsed after his attorney died.
Zoners should have included nearby parking lots that will be used for Washington Tower tenants when calculating square footage per unit, Hyman said.
Though he’s worked to ease some concerns, Hyman said he expects the board to also reject his newest proposal when it goes before them. He said he’s ready to appeal that denial in court.
“Certainly it's my hope that the zoning board rethinks our argument,” Hyman said. “But if not, then we’ll have to take that course and go the legal route.”
Another day, another development meeting
Hyman was back in Allentown City Council chambers Tuesday afternoon, about 16 hours after leaving the room with the zoning board's approval for another project to convert a blighted property into housing.
The developer said he sees opportunities in blighted buildings that have good “bones," or structural integrity, and intriguing architectural features.
The Washington Tower project will feature 36 to 46 apartments — depending on the outcome of a future zoning hearing — with a mix of studios and one-bedroom apartments, Hyman said.
Each of the building’s five floors also will have a two-bedroom unit, he said.
Rents likely will range from about $900 to $1,200 a month, he said.
The project to convert the property to housing units will require a “total rehab” of the building’s interior and exterior, according to city planning staff.
The blighted building was in “horrible” condition and had “a tremendous amount of leaks,” Hyman said.
The developer said the 36 approved apartments will be built by late fall. The approval process for the additional units is not expected to hold up construction, which is underway.
