ALLENTOWN, Pa. — An affordable housing development planned for downtown Allentown took a huge step toward fruition this week as its developer secured a major chunk of the project’s funding.
Cortex Residential is set to get $14.3 million from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency to build 38 units for people with low-to-moderate incomes.
That will serve as the primary source of funding for the complex. Cortex now is working to finish the paperwork for that money, Cortex Residential co-founder Jonathan Strauss told LehighValleyNews.com on Wednesday.
“Once we complete that process, the project will be shovel-ready,” Strauss said.
Strauss thanked the PHFA for “recognizing the strength of this project,” which he called “another really great example of public-private partnership.”
Cortex also secured $2 million in funding from Allentown’s allocation from the American Rescue Plan Act for its project, as well as a grant from Lehigh County.
The complex is expected to cost about $17 million, Strauss said.
Plenty of support
Local and state officials — including Allentown City Council members, Mayor Matt Tuerk’s administration and state Sen. Nick Miller — have thrown their support behind the project since it was announced.
“As the fastest-growing region in the commonwealth, we need to offer more opportunities for housing."State Sen. Nick Miller
"As the fastest-growing region in the commonwealth, we need to offer more opportunities for housing,” Miller said Wednesday in a statement thanking the PHFA for its support of the project.
Crews are expected to break ground on the affordable housing development early next year if everything goes according to plan, Strauss said.
The building is likely to get its first residents in 2026, he said.
Cortex plans to knock down the parish house next to Life Church on South Eighth Street to make more room for the affordable housing complex at the corner.
The historic church — formerly St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church — would not be touched as part of the project, according to the developer.
Fewer but bigger units
The project has been scaled back since plans were presented last year.
Allentown officials approved a four-story complex with 52 one- and two-bedroom units at South Eighth and Walnut streets, but the Cortex said Wednesday it’s planning a three-story building with 38 apartments.
Four units will be reserved for people with incomes at or below 20% of the area’s median income; the other 34 units will house families whose incomes are below 60% AMI.
The median income in Lehigh County was $101,400 in 2024, according to the Federal National Mortgage Association.
That means families who earn less than about $60,000 will be eligible to live in the downtown complex.
“As a result, the project will not only benefit individuals and couples, but also Allentown families."Cortex Residential co-founder Jonathan Strauss on plans to offer three-bedroom units
The size and scale of the final design were determined by the amount of tax credits the project received from the PHFA, according to Strauss.
The complex will have fewer units than first planned, but some will have three bedrooms, meaning the company can still serve “right around the same number of residents,” Strauss said.
“As a result, the project will not only benefit individuals and couples, but also Allentown families,” he said.
“New, quality, affordable” housing options for families are “desperately needed” in the city, Strauss said.
“We’re very proud to be able to bring this project to Allentown,” he said.
