A proposed apartment complex on the site of a former amusement park in east Allentown received another extension request from the city’s planning commission Tuesday.
The Central Park Apartments proposed at 605 N. Wahneta St. consist of 12 buildings and 126 apartments. The 12-acre wooded area is next to the site of the former Allentown State Hospital, which is undergoing its own redevelopment.
The massive Northridge project, being developed by City Center Group, is planned to be a mixed-use development on the 195-acre hospital site that includes more than 600 town homes, along with medical buildings, retail businesses, a school, walking and biking trails, and recreation space.
Developer Joe Colasuonno asked for a one-year extension in order to coordinate street realignments with Northridge.
The Central Park Apartments project was approved in June 2021, with a two-year extension granted in February 2024.
The property was once the site of Central Park, an amusement park established by the Allentown & Bethlehem Rapid Traction Co. in the late 19th century to increase trolley ridership.
The apartment complex project has been on the drawing board for nearly 20 years. It was originally proposed for 212 units in three buildings in 2006.
Eventually whittled to 179 units in two three-story buildings, that plan received conditional approval from the city in 2007 but stalled the following year over sewage capacity concerns and economic viability.