Lehigh Valley Real Estate

Lehigh County's board of commissioners voted narrowly Wednesday to grant a LERTA tax break for a property in Emmaus set to become 144 apartments.

The new plan for the property calls for a building that's a story shorter but has about 25 more apartments.

Base Engineering's Drew Nyman, project manager on behalf of the applicant, said the original sketch plan presented last year was “a lot more expansive than what we’re doing now.”

Displacing 135 residents and shuttering ground-level businesses until further notice, a monstrous fire at Five10 Flats in South Bethlehem has officials left trying to pick up the pieces.

Whitehall Township Board of Commissioners will consider a request by Fellowship Community retirement community to complete its proposed expansion in three phases instead of one, as was originally proposed. The change is because of lack of funding.

Fellowship Community, an independent living community in Whitehall Township, announced expansion plans to construct three luxury apartment buildings on the 67-acre campus at Mauch Chunk Road and Schadt Avenue.

A dilapidated single-family home across from Touchstone Theatre and Parham Park may later become a three-story mixed-use structure.

Allentown City Council looks poised to move about $2.25 million in unspent federal funding to other accounts.

Pen Argyl Borough Council provided conditional use approval to a former warehouse a developer intends to turn into an apartment building.

The Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency awarded seven projects in the state with grants from its Community Revitalization Fund Program. Only one project in the Lehigh Valley received money — a remediation project for the Fourth Street Building in Bethlehem.

Once pitched for 27 units, the newest project documents show 24 apartments to be built on site, with 18 one-bedroom and six two-bedroom units ranging from about 600 to 1,700 square feet.

City officials will later hear more on the vision and take a vote on the new $25 million building at 701-719 N. New St. The vote on April 1 pertained to the zoning classification of the land in question, located just a couple of blocks up from the action on Main Street.

The project, named Emerson Village, calls for the construction of 57 townhomes and 59 single-unit homes on 35 acres at 3626 Rural Road.

On Wednesday, HARB, the recommending body to City Council that weighs proposed changes to the exterior of buildings in Historic Bethlehem, said it wanted to see revised plans for the former 555 Main St. five-and-dime at its next meeting on April 2.

The Northampton County General Purpose Authority voted Tuesday to transfer a small lot along 25th St. to Skyline Investment Group, the developer working to turn the old Dixie Cup factory into more than 400 apartments.

The board’s unanimous vote brought an end to Monday's meeting just before it entered its fourth hour.

The work is supported by a $1 million reimbursement grant through the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, for “the design acquisition, and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects.”

Just around the corner from Main and Broad streets, Darto's has operated at the same 46 W. North St. location for more than 40 years. It will be replaced by another restaurant of some sort.

The North Whitehall Township Planning Commission reviewed updated plans Tuesday for a 110-home subdivision along Rising Sun Road.

A Bethlehem developer wants to construct 70 apartments above ground-level commercial space and parking at 701-719 N. New St. An amendment to the zoning map will be required to build as proposed.

The Emerson Village land development project at Rural Road received preliminary final approval by the Whitehall Township Planning Commission on Wednesday night. The plan calls for construction of 116 townhomes and single-unit homes on 35 acres.

The survey of about 2,300 properties will give Allentown officials "a better understanding" of the city's historic assets, according to a consultant leading the effort.

The project to demolish and reconstruct much of the tower's interior is set to occur simultaneously and last about two years, according to an executive for the new owner.

A proposal to add three stories and 27 apartments at the downtown Woolworth building was sent back to Bethlehem's Historical Architectural Review Board.