BETHLEHEM, Pa. — A once-beloved and stately 1880-built historic brick home that some residents were calling abandoned and left for blight burned late Thursday.
Bethlehem firefighters fought a two-alarm blaze at 143 W. Broad St.
The home is the site of the planned Skyline West, a $15 million, 50-unit luxury apartment building overlooking the Colonial Industrial Quarter.
Multiple attempts Friday to reach city zoning officials were unsuccessful.
The city fire department, in a brief phone call, said only, “We are not releasing any information at this time and will do so when we are ready.”
A phone call to Skyline West LLC of Bethlehem, which the tax bureau confirmed as the owner, was met with a response of “All of the owners are out of town.”
Efforts to reach property manager Apex Management, also of Bethlehem, were unsuccessful.
On social media, people were concerned and saddened and frustrated by the unabashedly beloved structure being harmed.
"Sad news," "pretty sickening" and "disgusting" were among comments on the You Know You’re from Bethlehem, PA Facebook page.
On the Friends of Bethlehem page, comments alluded to the address being a place for squatters.
Several posts were from people who said they had either seen photos of or had physically been inside the residence, describing it as once-beautiful, a nice family home, unique, updated in parts, and “not dilapidated when the ‘new’ people obtained it.”
Property off the market
According to Zillow, the property is listed with an address of 143-145 W. Broad St. and off market. It last was sold in October 2017 for $400,000 and last assessed in 2023 at $288,400, with taxes listed at $8,118.
ArtsQuest Founder Jeff Parks is among the original project developers.
Two phone calls Friday afternoon to the Parks residence were answered and met with hang-ups.
In 2019, LehighValleyLive.com reported that, in January 2018, the Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority agreed to sell 1.3 acres of authority-owned land, leftover from an urban renewal project, on the eastern slope of the ridge to Parks and the father-sons team of Dennis, Garrett and Brandon Benner.
Council backed the sale, according to the article, and also approved demolishing the home on the site, taking the unusual step of overriding its own advisory historic board.
The redevelopment authority board voted last week to condemn two small properties totaling 0.10 of an acre that the authority then will sell to the developers, it said.
This story will be updated.
