BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A local developer can move forward with plans to add a couple dozen apartments on top of the old Woolworth department store at 555 Main St.
Bethlehem City Council on Tuesday voted 5-1 on a certificate of appropriateness for the proposal, which calls for two stories to be added along the building’s Main Street frontage and three at the back along Rubel Street.
Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith voted against the proposal. Council President Michael Colón was absent.
Once pitched for 27 units, the project now would build 24 apartments, with 18 one-bedroom and six two-bedroom units ranging from about 600 to 1,700 square feet, the newest project documents show.
With the addition, the entire structure would stand close to the same height as the Main Street Commons building next door at 47 feet tall.
As presented, the project is allowed by right within the downtown Central Business District — a zoning classification that promotes a mix of property uses and allows developers up to 150 feet in building height.
The sign stays
The storefront Woolworth sign overlooking passersby will remain in place.
The Woolworth building’s owner is Lehigh Valley developer Lou Pektor and Rubel Street II LP by Pektor Holdings I GP DE LLC.
Pektor also owns the Main Street Commons building.
The project was designed and pitched by MKSD Architects.
The building currently has 4,500 square feet of available retail space on part of the bottom floor, which was once home to a Social Security office that relocated to 3450 High Point Blvd., near Hanover Township.
Next door, Latin restaurant Casa Del Mofongo operates in about 1,100 square feet.
An eventual consensus
The proposal has been back and forth between the city’s Historical Architectural and Review Board and City Council the past few months, seeing some changes along the way.
In the case of the most recent plans for the Woolworth building, HARB offered up its recommendation of approval on April 2.
HARB is an advisory board of architects, realtors and others tasked with reviewing proposed alterations to the exterior of buildings within the Central Bethlehem Historic District.
From there, the board sends its recommendation of approval or denial of a certificate of appropriateness to City Council for an official vote.
“The thing that really bothers me, I think the most, is the construction materials and the color of the addition. The new addition should be harmonious and congruent with the historic building.”Bethlehem City Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith
HARB guides its decisions using Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties’ Standards for Rehabilitation.
Common projects seen by the board include roofs, walls, foundations, windows, porches, garages and storefront signage and awnings.
Officials' concerns have included the height of the addition, its effect on the Main Street skyline, overall visibility from the Broad Street Bridge and nearby Colonial Industrial Quarter, broader color scheme and window shape.
'A good plan here'
Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith said the proposal still wasn’t in compliance with a handful of HARB’s overarching guidelines regarding height, aesthetic and visibility from the surrounding district.
“I think they’ve taken several bites at the apple, and we have a good plan here."Bethlehem City Councilwoman Hillary Kwiatek
“The thing that really bothers me, I think the most, is the construction materials and the color of the addition,” Crampsie Smith said.
“The new addition should be harmonious and congruent with the historic building.”
She motioned to have the project go back to HARB for another look, but that failed to get a second from fellow council members.
Regarding proper collaboration between project developers and HARB on color, roof, height and more, Councilwoman Hillary Kwiatek said this case “exemplifies the whole process.”
“I think they’ve taken several bites at the apple, and we have a good plan here,” Kwiatek said.
