The second phase of the Little Lehigh Public Housing complex received conditional approval from the Allentown Planning Commission on Tuesday.
The project at 246 Lehigh St. will have 35 affordable housing units, across two L-shaped buildings. They are targeted at households making no more than 80% of area median income. The first phase was completed in 2023 after the original complex, which dated from the 1970s, was demolished.
There were some concerns about the buildings’ proximity to Lehigh Street, as they will be about five feet from the high-traffic road.
“I can’t help but to really have serious concerns about the proximity of what’s going to be the rear of these buildings to Lehigh Street,” Chair Christian Browns said. “I feel like this is really shoehorned in there relative to the volume of traffic on the street and the steepness of that road. That’s really close.”
Kris Reiss from engineering firm T&M Associates said that a fiber optic line at the rear of the site prevented shifting the buildings further back.
City Director of Planning and Zoning Jennifer Gomez said this is the first major residential project reviewed under Allentown’s updated code. She said the city is processing code amendments based on lessons learned from this project.
“We are really excited about this project,” Gomez said.
Broken down, Little Lehigh Phase 2 will feature four one-bedroom, 10 two-bedroom, 17 three-bedroom and four four-bedroom units.
As part of the approval, developers will address blank walls with design features, coordinate with PPL on putting utilities underground and explore increased setbacks for Phase 3.