ALLENTOWN, Pa. — The old factory on Front Street in Allentown was set to go through a major transformation.
The building’s owner had plans to turn it into a 16-story apartment complex.
69 News reporter Bo Koltnow takes a look at the property’s manufacturing past, and its possible future.
“It was the first home of the Gottlieb Buehler Furniture Company back at the start of the 20th century,” said Lehigh Valley historian Frank Whelan about the massive old Allentown factory that went up in flames Wednesday night.
Whelan says the initial factory set the stage for German immigrants along Front Street and the rise of area silk mills.
Furniture maker American Atelier Company set up shop there in the 1920’s.
It soon became a steady manufacturer of custom wood furniture for the hospitality and institutional businesses.
“It also provided a certain amount of employment for the local people. A very large building that made it available for people to find jobs in the Lehigh Valley,” he said.
In 2010, Atelier moved to a 200,000-square-foot former General Mills / Pillsbury plant on Downyflake Lane, where it still operates today.
Wednesday’s fire puts in question the site’s future.
Current owners Urban Residential Properties has plans to turn it into 16-story, 360-unit apartment building with retail and commercial space.
Part or a larger pitch for more than 1,000 new apartments near Allentown’s waterfront.
The project was last discussed during a March Allentown Planning Commission meeting.
Urban Residential, who wanted to tear the building down, was unavailable for comment on what’s next.