Lehigh Valley Real Estate

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.

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.

Just five months after officially being in business in their recognizable bright yellow teardrop-shaped trailer, co-owners Melinda Schneck and Josh Elmer are expending Roasties Mobile Cafe into a brick-and-mortar coffee shop. It'll take root where the couple says its heart is: Macungie.

Easton City Councilman Frank Pintabone's workforce housing ordinance passed council on Wednesday, launching a new program to promote affordable residences for those who fall in the middle income bracket.

Lehigh County officials gathered Friday to celebrate the finish of structural steel work on a new building at the county-run Cedarbrook nursing home. Officials initially hoped the building would be open by now.

The Coalition of Manufactured Home Communities of Pennsylvania held a get-together Wednesday to discuss the lot rental price jumps throughout the communities, and tell residents how they are combatting it.

Developers behind a 73-unit condo in Easton secured a land development plan approval on Wednesday, though not without plenty of discussion about parking.

On Wednesday, about 60 people were present at Town Hall regarding the project pitched for 312 Hanover St. in West Bethlehem. Many argued the developer was trying to cram too much into too little of a space.

While North Whitehall Township planners took no action on the project, developers offered an update on their active adult residential community plans on Tuesday.

The proposal would be a conditional use within the township’s Rural Residential Zoning District, meaning the applicant has to take part in a public hearing process before township supervisors.

Developers shared ways to bring project cost down without changing the look, feel and rhythm of the Tempo by Hilton hotel to go up at 14-36 W. Third St.

The proposed union hall at 530 Pembroke Road would “support Bethlehem police officers through wellness, training and community service,” FOP President Robert Nichelson said.

A seven-story condo project set for Easton's Downtown secured several variances regarding the size and design of the building at the city's zoning hearing board meeting Monday.

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.

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.

Residents near a planned land development apartment project on Township Line Road have concerns over potential environmental impacts and increased traffic.