ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A building that once served as an Allentown Fire Department firehouse is set to become apartments — if the developer can secure parking.
Eury Vargas plans to put four units into the three-story vacant building at 711 Chew St., which also housed the Hispanic American Organization's headquarters for more than 20 years.
- A local developer plans to turn a vacant building, which was once a firehouse, into a small apartment building
- Eury Vargas wants to build four apartments in the building at 711 Chew St.
- Zoning officials on Monday approved Vargas’ plans, but he must still find guaranteed parking for tenants
Allentown Zoning Hearing Board granted conditional approval Monday for Vargas’ plan, but the developer must prove that tenants have dedicated parking spaces before officials allow them to move in.
Vargas told zoning officials that parking spaces are available, but he has struggled to persuade their owners to lease them for terms longer than a month.
No interest in offices
Glenn Lichtenwalner, chairman of Hispanic American Organization's board, said the nonprofit has looked to sell the building for more than a decade after moving most of its operations to 462 Walnut St. in 2007.
HAO worked out of the Chew Street building since buying the property in June 1986.
The building "needs complete upgrades, regardless of the use."Developer Eury Vargas
Lichtenwalner — who also served as the architect for the apartment-building plans Vargas presented Monday — said the building was built around 1900 and “used by miscellaneous charitable organizations."
It also was a firehouse for a single firetruck, Lichtenwalner said, describing since-scrapped plans to put parking on the first floor of the building.
The Allentown nonprofit put the building on the market in 2012 and tried for several years to sell it as an office building, but there was no interest, Lichtenwalner said.
HAO continued to provide some counseling services in the Chew Street building “for a short period of time,” before executives determined “it was better to move everything to Walnut Street,” Lichtenwalner said.
The Lehigh Conference of Churches showed some interest in the building, but its plans were never formalized, he said.
Building 'in disrepair'
HAO put its former headquarters back on the market in the past year, and Vargas swooped for the property, Lichtenwalner said.
The first floor of the new apartment building will have a three-bedroom unit, as well as a common area for storage and deliveries, Vargas said.
Plans show two one-bedroom units on the second floor, with a two-bedroom apartment on the third floor.
The building is structurally sound, but its interior is “in disrepair,” with leaking ceilings, broken and boarded windows, and even animals living inside, Vargas said.
“It needs complete upgrades, regardless of the use,” he said.
The three-member Allentown Zoning Hearing Board approved Vargas’ application to convert the building from office to residential, but he will have to show “written evidence … on a continuing basis” for six parking space to earn and maintain a certificate of occupancy.
