ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Wawa is set to take its quest for regional domination to Sheetz’s doorstep in south Allentown.
The Allentown City Planning Commission on Tuesday afternoon approved the company’s proposal to open a new convenience store and gas station at 3015 Lehigh St., directly next to a Sheetz location — which neighbors a Turkey Hill.
Planning officials and representatives for the project spent more than 90 minutes going through the proposal’s finer details, including roadway jurisdictions, sewer-pipe diameters and driveway configurations.
The region’s newest Wawa will likely be ready sometime in 2025.Mike Murphy, Ferber Company executive
The commission then granted two waivers that allow the new Wawa to move forward.
Wawa plans to demolish three buildings, including the Brass Rail restaurant, to make space for a six-pump gas station and convenience store near the corner of Lehigh and 31st streets.
Mike Murphy, an executive for real estate developer Ferber Company, said the proposed Wawa would have a “prototypical layout,” like that seen at more than a dozen other locations in the Lehigh Valley.
The region’s newest Wawa will likely be ready sometime in 2025, Murphy said.
Loyal customers flocked to South Bethlehem last month as Wawa opened a new location on Hellertown Road. That location also sells beer and liquor and has seating for 30 people. It’s one of 24 stores statewide with such offerings and one of three in the Lehigh Valley.
An attorney representing the operator of the Lehigh Street Turkey Hill told planning officials his client opposes the new Wawa.
“Between the Turkey Hill, the Sheetz and the proposed new Wawa, it's just a lot of gas stations in the same area," Stan Taroli said. “The need’s already being met in the community, and we think that it’s just going to cause traffic, safety [and] health issues.”
A Royal Farms gas station/convenience store was proposed for the property in August 2021, but that project never received final approval, officials said.
Landmark Tower plans toppled
A developer will have to restart the approval process after the Allentown City Planning Commission rejected its request for another extension on the long-proposed Landmark Tower.
Plans for a 33-story building at 90 S. 90th St. first earned planning officials’ support in 2015, but developer Bruch Loch of Ascot Circle Realty never moved forward with the project.
Loch initially planned to fill about three-quarters of the tower with offices, with retail and apartments filling the rest.
Officials granted five extensions for the project over the past nine years, including a six-month extension in July. Loch most recently asked for more time after deciding to fill the proposed skyscraper with mostly apartments.
At more than 400 feet, the tower would loom over the Lehigh Valley as its tallest building. The PPL Tower now holds that title, standing at about 322 feet.
Umran Global Investments recently acquired the property and asked for another six-month extension, but officials urged the developer to come back with a fresh plan not tied to the previous proposals.
