Construction should begin in summer of what will be the tallest building in Allentown — and anywhere else in the Lehigh Valley.
Appropriately named the Landmark, the 33-story building will be 420 feet tall — 98 feet taller than the iconic PPL, Allentown’s best-known landmark for generations.
The Landmark will be constructed on the northwest corner of Ninth and Walnut streets, just one city block south of the PPL tower at Ninth and Hamilton.
It will be a very tall building on a very small lot.
The Allentown Planning Commission gave the project unanimous final approval early Tuesday afternoon. No one from the public opposed the project or even had any questions about it.
None of the planning commission members offered an opinion on the merits of the project.
Approval seemed almost disappointingly routine for such a bold plan that dramatically will change the Allentown skyline.
The next step will be for the developers to go before the Allentown Zoning Hearing Board, probably next month, for what one of them called “two items of relief.”
Developer Bruce Loch, who first proposed the $60 million building two years ago, did not attend the planning commission meeting.
Loch could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but architect Glenn Lichtenwalner of W2A Design Group was excited about getting planning commission approval.
Lichtenwalner said Allentown businesses people also are excited about the Landmark coming, because it will be “a magnet for more opportunity and more business to move into the area.”
For example, he said restaurant owners will be happy because more people will be eating in their establishments.
“It’s all part of the plan for the renaissance of Allentown,” said the architect.
Landmark statistics
The Landmark also will be taller than the 332-foot Martin Tower in Bethlehem, which has been the tallest building in the Lehigh Valley since 1972.
The PPL, which was completed in 1927, is 322 feet tall.
Lichtenwalner has said the Landmark will be the tallest building in Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
The building will have retail on the first two floors, then 24 floors of office space, then four floors of condominiums and three floors of penthouses.
It will have a total of 11 residential units, said planning commission chairman Oldrich Foucek.
Parking will be provided in a deck along Walnut Street right next to the building site.
The building will be cantilevered out over both Ninth and Walnut Streets— meaning its first four floors will be narrower than all the floors above them.
Its main entrance will be off Ninth Street and its address will be 90 S. Ninth.
If construction can begin this summer, as the developers hope, Lichtenwalner said it will take about a year and a half to complete the building, which means it could be finished by early 2017.
The developers anticipate lane closures on both Ninth and Walnut streets during construction, but indicated any complete road closures should only be temporary.
Outstanding issues resolved
Plans for the Landmark had been before the planning commission for final approval in January, but the project was tabled.
Some of the outstanding concerns that delayed approval apparently were addressed to the satisfaction of the planning commission, although not all of them were discussed during the meeting.
For example, a traffic and pedestrian study had been prepared by developers at the request of planners, but its findings were not discussed.
City planning director Michael Hefele said the city’s engineering staff did review the traffic study but had no comments on it.
Other previously raised issues were discussed — including trash removal, loading zones and parking.
A lay-by will be between Ninth Street and the building’s front entrance, so drivers can pull off the street to drop off and pick up residents — and for other services, such as mail and UPS deliveries.
A utility service entrance will be at the southwest corner of the building along Walnut Street.
Trash and recyclables will be stored inside that secured entrance.
On-street parking will be prohibited on that stretch of Walnut Street so everything from contracted trash service trucks to moving vans can park there to load or unload.
One reason developers must go before the zoning hearing board is that loading and unloading areas usually must be provided on-site, rather than on the street, said Hefele.
Art Swallow of Arthur A. Swallow Associates took the lead in representing the project before the planning commission.
Swallow explained his company prepared the Landmark plans for Loch’s Ascot Circle Realty, LLC.
He indicated the developers’ argument to the zoning board will be that an off-street zoning area won’t be needed because “we’re not a heavy user of trucks” and because Walnut Street would be posted to only allow occasional use by larger trucks.
More than a half dozen parking meters will be removed from Ninth and Walnut to create the lay-by and truck parking area.
Swallow said Loch has an agreement with the Allentown Parking Authority to use up to 250 parking spaces on its parking deck next to the building site.
He said two more levels could be added to expand that deck, with no impact on the building’s design.
“We’re adequate with parking for our use,” said Swallow.
That parking garage will offer direct access into the Landmark building on the second and fifth floors, said Lichtenwalner, the project architect.
“A tall, skinny building”
In January, planning commission member Richard Button told the Landmark developers some people in the city are “nervous” about what looks like a tall, skinny building.
As if anticipating the possibility of such criticism, Lichtenwalner went to Tuesday’s meeting armed with a chart listing “very, very skinny buildings” — complete with photographs.
Most on his list were New York City skyscrapers, the tallest being an 8,250-square-foot building at 432 Park Ave., which is 1,396 feet tall.
Second tallest on his list was a 3,950-square-foot building at 111 W. 57th St. in New York, which is 1,350 feet tall.
The lower levels of the 420-foot-tall Landmark building will cover 5,070 square feet, while floors six through 33 will have 6,981 square feet.
Lichtenwalner said architect Harvey Wiley Corbett, who designed the PPL building in 1923, also designed the 433-foot-tall Bush Tower along 42nd Street in New York in 1916.
According to his chart, that building’s floors cover 5,000 square feet.
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