Allentown City Council gives preliminary thumbs-up to state hospital redevelopment
Allentown Council members gave a preliminary “yes” vote to a major zoning overhaul, paving the way for $1 billion of development to come to the former Allentown State Hospital grounds.
City Center Investment Corp., one of the Lehigh Valley’s most prominent real estate developers, is seeking a rezoning of 1600 Hanover Ave. from“industrial” to“mixed use overlay,” which would allow the company to build a “masterplanned community” on the 200-acre site.
The land is the former home of the psychiatric hospital, and has been vacant since the hospital building was demolished in 2020. 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.
The development, which City Center has named “Northridge,” will bring housing, medical buildings, retail businesses, walking and biking trails, and recreation space to the site.
An Allentown City Council committee held a meeting Wednesday on the rezoning application ahead of a public hearing and final vote Dec. 6. The committee opted to move the rezoning application forward favorably, indicating its members — including Council members Cynthia Mota, Candida Affa and Santo Napoli — favor the
rezoning.
Several council members lauded the plan, specifically City Center’s proposal to add at least 1,000 units of housing — including town homes, single family homes and apartment units for rent and sale — to the site. According to statistics from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission, the region faces a shortage of 9,000 housing units that is expected to grow every year by around 1,300, which Northridge could help address.
“The fact that folks are interested in moving in only opens up homes for more first-time home buyers,” Napoli said.
Vicki Kistler, Allentown’s community and economic development director, said feedback from neighbors of the site in east Allentown has been positive, with many expressing interest in moving to the new, to-be-developed neighborhood.
“This is one of the few times I’ve seen home owners say flat out, ‘We want to be a part of this development,’ “Kistler said.
However, Ce-Ce Gerlach, a council member and advocate for affordable housing in Allentown, told developers she was skeptical that the new housing would meaningfully address a lack of affordable housing in the city.
“The median income in this district is only $48,000,” Gerlach said. “I don’t know how many folks will be able to afford your new development.”
She asked developers if any of the housing would be designated as affordable, meaning the rent or mortgage payments would cost no more than 30% of the annual area median income. Robert DiLorenzo, director of construction for City Center, said none of the housing is designated as affordable at this point, but indicated that could change in the future.
City Council will hold a hearing seeking public input on the rezoning at 6 p.m. Wednesday in council chambers, ahead of its vote.
The city planning commission, which issues nonbinding, advisory votes to City Council, unanimously recommended the rezoning application in October.
If the rezoning is approved, City Center would go through several phases of approval applications with the city, with increasing levels of detail on the plans — a master plan, a tentative plan and detailed plans for individual buildings as they’re ready to be developed. City Center developers hope to begin construction on Northridge next year and complete the first phase in 2025. The exact text of the new zoning guidelines can be viewed on Allentown’s website at Allentownpa.legistar.com.
The city has only granted one “mixed use overlay” rezoning: In 2021, it agreed to rezone a large swath of land near the Lehigh River. The zoning designation allowed Urban Residential Properties, another Allentown real estate developer, to move forward with a major redevelopment of that neighborhood, revitalizing several dilapidated buildings there including the former Neuweiler brewery.