Allentown State Hospital plan moving forward
Rezoning to allow development gets OK from city board
After an initial delay, the Allentown Planning Commission on Tuesday unanimously recommended a major rezoning that would allow a $1 billion redevelopment of the former state hospital site to move forward.
City Center Investment Corp. officials in early August unveiled plans for a “master-planned community” to come to the long vacant site off Hanover Avenue in east Allentown. The former Allentown State Hospital closed in 2010 and the building was demolished in 2020.
“From my personal perspective, I’m about 85, 90% of where I think this should be, and I think that’s pretty darn good, considering how many parties are at the table trying to have their interests represented.” — Allentown Planning Commission member Damien Brown
Developers have plans to bring businesses and restaurants to a retail corridor surrounding the Hanover Avenue entrance to the complex, which they are calling Northridge. The rest of the 200-acre site would be mostly residential buildings — a mix of townhomes, single family homes and apartments — and recreational or park space.
Developers also plan to bring office space, medical buildings and education space to the site, and would reserve at least 35% as open, undeveloped land.
The East Side property is seen by city and real estate officials as one of the biggest redevelopment opportunities for several generations in Allentown. It was sold directly to City Center by the state in early 2023 for $5.5 million after a failed competitive bidding process.
To move forward, City Center needs approval on a major rezoning to the 200-acre site, from “industrial” — which allows very limited types of development — to “mixed use overlay.” The mixed use overlay zoning designation is a “custom” land use option by City Center that allows a combination of uses including residential, commercial and recreational.
The planning commission initially tabled City Center’s application last month, saying it needed more time to thoroughly review the 19-page proposed amendment.
Planners unanimously approved it Tuesday and lauded the developer for its responsiveness to city suggestions, which included putting most parking spots beside and behind buildings, instead of in front, and clarifying how trash collection would be done.
“From my personal perspective, I’m about 85, 90% of where I think this should be, and I think that’s pretty darn good, considering how many parties are at the table trying to have their interests represented,” commission member
Damien Brown said.
Commission member Anthony Toth asked if City Center could produce a forestry stewardship plan that would further codify its commitment to preserving open land.
“It’s within our ordinances right now that we’re allowed to ask for that, we can ask for an environmental land assessment,” Toth said. “We can ask for how the impacts of the proposal are going to have an impact upon the existing environment.”
According to Robert DiLorenzo, director of planning and construction for City Center, the company is required to preserve about a third of the land according to the terms of the land’s sale.
City Center is working with Wildlands Conservancy, an Emmaus nonprofit, on a formal plan to preserve the open land.
The rezoning will now go to City Council for a final approval. The commission asked council to take into consideration notes from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission’s review of the proposal, which is not yet scheduled.
If the rezoning receives final approval, City Center would need planning commission approval on a series of more detailed land development plans.