ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A developer working to bring dozens of affordable housing units to downtown Allentown is a step closer to breaking ground on the project after securing a six-figure grant from Lehigh County officials.
The county board of commissioners on Wednesday unanimously approved a $650,000 grant for the Walnut Square Apartments project next to Life Church on South Eighth Street.
That money will come from Lehigh County’s American Rescue Plant Act fund. The county got more than $71 million from the $1.9 trillion federal pandemic-relief measure.
Cortex Residential plans a three-story complex with 38 apartments.
Four units would be reserved for families who make less than 20% of the area’s median income, while the other 34 units would be for families earning less than 60% of Area Median Income.
Lehigh County’s median income in 2024 was $77,493, according to the latest U.S. Census figures. Twenty percent of that would be $15,499; sixty percent of that would be $46,496.
New nonprofit
The $650,000 grant from Lehigh County represents the final bit of funding for the Walnut Square Apartments project, which is expected to cost about $17 million.
Cortex Residential last year secured about $14.3 million in funding from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. And council members chipped in $2 million from Allentown’s $57 million ARPA fund.
Lehigh County officials gave the grant to Soteria Housing, a nonprofit established last year to help developers fund affordable housing projects.
“Creating and maintaining affordable housing often requires financial resources beyond what traditional funding mechanisms can provide."Soteria Housing nonprofit leaders
Cortex Residential founders Jonathan Strauss and Patrick Perone serve as board members for the nonprofit alongside Pottsville Housing Authority Director Craig Shields. Shields also is Soteria House’s executive director.
They named the organization after the mythological Greek goddess of safety and salvation, deliverance and preservation from harm.
It aims to support construction of new affordable housing and the preservation of existing units, according to documents submitted to the Lehigh County Board of Commissioners.
“Creating and maintaining affordable housing often requires financial resources beyond what traditional funding mechanisms can provide,” nonprofit leaders say in those documents.
“Soteria’s purpose is to bridge this gap, ensuring the feasibility of essential housing projects.”
It has worked on projects in Bangor and Shippensburg since its founding last year.
Construction on the complex is expected to start early this year, while residents could move in next year. The parish house next to Life Church on South Eighth Street is to be demolished as part of the project.
