BETHLEHEM, Pa. — The city and its housing authority are seeking a $500,000 federal grant as a first step toward rebuilding the Pembroke Village public housing development.
While it would take years to get there, the goal would be to demolish the 196 homes of Pembroke Village in Northeast Bethlehem, replace them with new ones and add mixed-income housing and services.
- Bethlehem is seeking up to $500,000 from HUD for a Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant
- The grant would allow for two years to develop a plan to demolish and replace 196 homes in Pembroke Village
- The public housing development off Pembroke Road was built in the 1940s
Laura Collins, the city’s director of community and economic development, said the idea would be to build on a larger footprint, with a larger number of units that also include homes not subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Currently you have public housing units in a neighborhood that is entirely public housing,” Collins said in an interview. “With mixed income you might see an apartment complex that has a mix of units that are public housing and others at market rate.
“You create a neighborhood that has a mix of incomes, making it more sustainable and diverse.”
City Council kicked off the process Wednesday night. Council approved a memorandum of understanding in which the Bethlehem Housing Authority will assist the city in applying for a Choice Neighborhoods Planning Grant from HUD.
The grant program can award up to $500,000 to develop an improvement plan, starting a two-year planning process.
If successful, the city then also would apply for an implementation grant that could award $30 million to $50 million for the work, according to Collins.
She stressed that this is just the early stages, with nothing set in stone.
“This is conceptual," Collins said. "What will come out [if the initial grant is approved] will be an actual plan.”
The public housing that lines and stretches north of Pembroke Road is actually several developments commonly known as Marvine-Pembroke.
Pembroke Village is on the western side of the development. It was built in the 1940s and underwent renovations in the early 1990s.
“You create a neighborhood that has a mix of incomes, making it more sustainable and diverse.”Laura Collins, Bethlehem director of community and economic development
Bethlehem’s interest in a HUD Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant follows Easton’s, where officials are looking to remake the North Union Street, Elm Street and Bushkill House developments in the West Ward.
Easton got a $450,000 planning grant more than two years ago.
In Bethlehem, Collins said, the Pembroke Village transformation would extend beyond the housing there now and encompass the larger neighborhood, seeking to include the possibility of grocery stores and child care centers.
Bethlehem’s application for the planning grant is due to HUD in early June. Officials would expect an answer from HUD in the fall, Collins said.
