ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Two Allentown developers got approval Monday to add more apartments to the city's downtown by converting existing buildings.
Nat Hyman got permission to go ahead with three new units on a vacant second floor of a building he owns at 315-325 W. Linden Street.
And Barry Diehl was given the go-ahead to convert the vacant second floor of his dry cleaning business at 1210-1212 W. Turner St. into two apartments.
The approvals continue movement to add living space to the city's downtown, just days after Allentown unveiled an initiativeto address the city’s housing challenges and ensure long-term affordability for its residents.
Before the board deliberated on the Turner Street property, Councilman Santo Napoli vouched for Diehl as a "good neighbor" and expressed the importance of creating more housing in Allentown, in light of the recent housing studythe city commissioned.
"Allentown has a significant amount of inventory that's vacant, whether it's properties or it's land, and it's right for rehabilitation or infill development. When Barry and Sue told me about this, this proposal, it just jumped out that this is the perfect opportunity, as long as it meets requirements for parking and so forth."Allentown Councilmember Santo Napoli
"I've gotten to know Barry and Sue over the years, and when he says he's a good neighbor, he's not kidding around," Napoli said.
"What I really want to speak about tonight, though, was, as you know, last week, we released a housing study for the city of Allentown."
He said some of the recommendations line up with what Diehl is trying to do.
"One thing that jumped out was that Allentown has a significant amount of inventory that's vacant, whether it's properties or it's land, and it's right for rehabilitation or infill development," Napoli said.
"When Barry and Sue told me about this, this proposal, it just jumped out that this is the perfect opportunity, As long as it meets requirements for parking and so forth."
The proposals
Hyman said the development of the apartments on West Linden Street would not disrupt the neighborhood.
"I have 103 units here [on W Linden St.] and having across the street, soon-to-be 170 units [At 333. W Court St.], I think it is a positive impact," he said.
"Because you don't have all of those people gathering all the time and leaving garbage and things like that, so there's no adverse impact. I think it's only positive."
Both structures to which he referred are manufacturing buildings that were converted into loft-style apartments. The one across the street, on West Court Street, was the site of the Adelaide Silk Mill.
Hyman said zoning regulations already have been met, as the original plan for the building always was to convert the vacant units into apartments.
"I don't know how much more I can say, it's three apartments," he said.
Nearby, at 1210-1212 W. Turner St., Diehl said, he has secured off-street parking to comply with the city's ordinances for new apartments, and met all other criteria, such as plumbing requirements.
"We have a dry cleaning business on the first floor, that is run by myself and my wife," Diehl said, referring to "Your Neighborhood Dry Cleaner."
A couple in the audience who live across the street raised concerns about street parking, saying it's often hard enough to find parking as it is in the area, and that more apartments could worsen that issue.
Diehl assured them the parking he's secured is off-street, and would not be an issue.
The board deliberated just a few minutes before granting approval to both proposals.
