EASTON, Pa. — The Confluence, the planned $80 million mixed-use development in the heart of the downtown, could see its groundbreaking a year after its first projected start date.
John Callahan, the former mayor of Bethlehem and director of development for Peron Development, said Friday the company remains committed to the project.
- Construction on the Confluence, a planned $80 million mixed-use development in downtown Easton, has a tentative start date of Fall 2023
- The update came during campaign event for Mayor Sal Panto, who is seeking a record seventh term
- He is opposed by City Councilman Peter Melan, who has voted against Panto's shifting vision for the property over the past five years
Peron's original pitch for the site called for about 250 apartments as well as a movie theater and restaurant run by ArtsQuests on the 3-acre site. That plan called for underground parking as well as a connection to the adjacent city-owned parking garage.
Callahan said a number of factors have slowed progress on the project, including inflation, the rising cost of construction materials and the challenges of building in an urban flood zone along a busy downtown street.
Peron officials may need to redesign the project because of rising costs, he said, and the city still needs to approve aspects of the project before construction can begin.
Construction will likely take two years, he said.
Project is touted
Callahan's remarks came during a campaign event Mayor Sal Panto scheduled at the site at Larry Holmes Drive and Third Street.
Callahan said he came to show Peron's commitment to the project and its support for Panto, who is seeking a record seventh term.
"Anyone who thinks this project is behind schedule doesn't know a lot about the development process."John Callahan, director of development for Peron Development
"Anyone who thinks this project is behind schedule doesn't know a lot about the development process, and I would argue that shows a certain naivete and a certain inexperience that frankly Easton doesn't need right now," Callahan said.
He told Easton Planning Commission in February 2022 that Peron hoped to break ground around September 2022.
"Easton needs an individual like Sal who's been at the helm a long time and has captained this ship to what it is today," Callahan said.
Other speakers included Northampton County District Attorney Terry Houck, City Councilman Ken Brown, council candidate Frank Pintabone and the family of murder victim Andrew "Beep" White, a Good Samaritan fatally shot at the Days Inn in March 2015.
They all hailed the promise of the Confluence as a boon for the city while simultaneously saying the effort has been a blessing for Easton even if the development never comes to be.
'Ready to help the neighborhoods'
Before the city bought it in 2018, the property had been a hotel known as a hub for prostitution and drug use.
Panto engineered a plan to buy the property for $5.9 million with the goal of demolishing the building and selling the land to the Da Vinci Science Center to create an aquarium and science museum to drive tourism in the region.
But after Da Vinci scaled back its plans for the site, Easton backed out of the deal and sold the land to Peron for $3.5 million in 2021.
"Economic development in the downtown is ready to help the neighborhoods."Easton Mayor Sal Panto
Panto said the Confluence would create more than $1.5 million annually in property tax revenue, which would prove to be an 18% boost to the city's property tax revenue.
That money could then be used to invest in improvements in residential neighborhoods in the city's West Ward and South Side, Panto said.
He noted the vision for the Confluence was steered by a committee of city residents, and that other fees with the project would help.
"Economic development in the downtown is ready to help the neighborhoods," Panto said.
Police chief at political event
Easton Police Chief Carl Scalzo said the elimination of the problematic Days Inn already has benefitted the city.
The department received so many calls involving assaults, drug complaints and prostitution that police were there nearly every day, Scalzo said.
"If nothing is ever built on this site, it is still far better today than it was when that building was here with the issues and problems that we had."Easton Police Chief Carl Scalzo
He said the mayor's solution has been essential to improving city safety.
"If nothing is ever built on this site, it is still far better today than it was when that building was here with the issues and problems that we had," he said.
After the event, Scalzo said he was speaking at the campaign event in his official capacity as police chief at Panto's invitation.
Panto's opponent in the Democratic primary mayoral race is City Councilman Peter Melan, who has routinely been the only dissenting voice to Panto in city government.
He opposed buying the property in 2018 and voted against selling it to Peron in 2021.
The primary likely will decide the outcome of the election; Easton voters historically favor Democrats, and there are no candidates on the Republican primary ballot.
