ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The massive project to gut PPL Tower and turn it into more than 100 apartments is nearing reality.
Wilkes-Barre-based D&D Realty wants to build 112 apartments across 20 of 24 floors of the Lehigh Valley’s tallest building.
That includes two-bedroom penthouses on floors 21 and 22.
A restaurant is slated for the first floor, with commercial tenants on the second; the top two floors would be used for mechanical equipment.
The developer on Monday night cleared its final major hurdle before getting to work on the building.
Demolition and reconstruction are set to occur simultaneously and last about two years.Nicholas Dye, D&D Realty partner
Allentown Zoning Hearing Board unanimously approved an adaptive-reuse application from D&D Realty, which now is set to buy the iconic building early next year.
It still must get permits, but faces no more approval meetings for planning or zoning issues.
'Ideal project'
Crews could start on the tower's interior as early as January after D&D completes its purchase, partner Nicholas Dye told LehighValleyNews.com last month.
Demolition and reconstruction are set to occur simultaneously and last about two years.
D&D Realty also plans to buy the complex at 2 N. Ninth St. from PPL.
The state Public Utility Commission this summer unanimously approved D&D's pending purchase of both buildings.
The developer has secured more than 200 parking spaces for tenants at the Linden Street Garage, Dye said Monday.
Allentown zoning board member Trent Sear said he “overwhelmingly” supported the developer's plans to convert the PPL Tower from offices into housing.
He called it an “ideal project” because D&D's adaptive-reuse application shows the 112-apartment building will remain within Allentown’s zoning regulations.
The Zoning Hearing Board had no legal basis to deny the developer's application, Chairman Robert Knauer said before members unanimously approved it.
