Lehigh Valley Real Estate

Groundbreaking for a 72-unit apartment expansion was held at Fellowship Community senior independent living in Whitehall Township on Friday.

There's still a ways to go before developers know what will be going inside the historic Wells Fargo bank building at 52 W. Broad St., according to Plamen “Rocco” Ayvazov, head of Monocacy Builders, the property owner.

A proposed property tax rebate for senior citizens, drawn from hybrid police patrol vehicle fuel savings, will have to wait to be voted on until Jan. 2026.

Easton officials announced the launch of nonprofit HOME Easton and the start of a new Landlord-Tenant Engagement Program on Wednesday, with the goal to address affordable housing and improve the rental scene in the city.

City planners meet at 5 p.m. Thursday at Bethlehem Town Hall, 10 E. Church St. The proposal for the former Wells Fargo is listed fourth on an agenda of five items.

Units will be spread across seven buildings on an almost-17-acre undeveloped lot, with construction on the approved apartment complex expected to start in the spring.

The developer behind a proposed 37-story skyscraper in Allentown asked planning officials for another delay.

Josh Siegel wants to pursue a housing plan utilized in Montgomery County, Maryland, to create 1,500 apartment units in the region. His transition team includes a committee tasked with responding to Trump administration directives.

Conditional preliminary approval was granted for a six-story apartment on Northampton Street in Easton, provided the developer and a neighboring property owner resolve a property line dispute.

Rabbi Shoshanah Tornberg opened a discussion Sunday by noting many Allentown residents are “one missed paycheck” from being forced to experience homelessness. She called the housing crisis “a challenge that we don’t have to tolerate.”

Bethlehem Parking Authority, the property owner, and applicant Larken Associates, of Branchburg, New Jersey, have plans for a mixed-use building with 105 dwelling units — including 67 one-bedroom and 38 two-bedroom units ranging from 759 sq. ft. to 1,279 sq. ft.

Controller Jeff Glazier said the measure could be "one of the most impactful things council has done in a long time.”

A public hearing for Tax Increment Financing — a tax break for the Dixie Cup plant developers to pump money back into the project — drew substantial support at Northampton County Council even though one of the commissioners characterized it as "a payoff."

Sketch plans for an athletic complex for Allentown Central Catholic High School were reviewed by the Whitehall Township Planning Commission on Wednesday night.

Easton's Historic District Commission approved concepts for the Residences at Lynden, a 73-unit condominium project planned for South Third and Ferry streets Downtown.

Bethlehem City Council unanimously approved a $12,000 contract with the Center for Public Enterprise of Brooklyn, New York, to help with designing and implementing such a fund in Bethlehem.

Among the free food, candy and raffles was quite a spread of information available, both in English and Spanish, for families related to a major neighborhood redesign in the works.

The Gateway on Fourth, a 120-unit affordable housing project, expected to cost $29 million, just received $16 million in highly competitive tax credits awarded by the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency board. It's one of two affordable housing projects out of six total applicants in the Lehigh Valley to receive the credits.

The Lehigh Valley’s position among the top three small rental markets highlights how much pressure local renters are feeling, but that’s just one side of the housing market continuing to squeeze budgets.

Those parties now will be able to call witnesses and make arguments of their own, as is the case with the original appellee, North Whitehall Township. Argument for the appeal is planned to begin at 9:30 a.m. Nov. 17 at Lehigh County Courthouse.

After a handful of meetings and continuances, the city Zoning Hearing Board on Wednesday denied a favorable interpretation on inadequate lot size for property owner Ishtiaq Ali Saaem and Hanover Rauch LLC in a unanimous vote.

North Whitehall Township supervisors soon will vote on revised plans for The Ridings at Parkland Phase II, a 44-home subdivision set to take shape near Spruce Street and Timber Lane.

Two Bethlehem property owners await what’s next as developers plan to put up townhomes on adjacent lots. They’re preparing for what they say could be the worst-case scenario: losing their beloved trees and an established quality of life in the neighborhood.

Challenges for would-be homeowners in Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley are even more evident, with housing reflecting a mix of aging stock, rising values and a growing divide between homeowners and renters.