Plans for a proposed 37-story “pencil tower” in Allentown — which have been in the works for years — could be finalized this week.
After receiving a variance from the Allentown Zoning Hearing Board in July, the developer is scheduled to appear Tuesday before the city’s planning commission.
The agenda for the meeting, which is scheduled for 12:15 p.m. in City Council chambers, includes the Peregrine Tower, the name of the project at 90 S. Ninth St. that has been through several delays since it was proposed in 2013.
Umran Global Investment LLC is seeking approval for a preliminary/final plan.
If built, the 420-foot-tall Peregrine Tower would become the Lehigh Valley’s tallest building, eclipsing the nearby PPL Building, which is just shy of 322 feet high. The mixed-use building would have 250,140 square feet of space with 208 apartments. Umran’s original plan to have a restaurant on the 37th floor was changed; it would have apartments instead. The first through fifth floors would have retail and office space.
The zoning board approved the variance that allows a different sight triangle clearance — an open, unobstructed space required at a street corner that allows drivers to see oncoming traffic, pedestrians and cyclists.
Umran maintained that any changes to accommodate the sight triangle issue would force changes to the building’s design and create hardship.
Planners gave a mostly positive hearing on the Peregrine Tower in June 2025 before it was tabled. Umran was scheduled to return in December, but the hearing was delayed.
First proposed by developer Bruce Loch as a 33-story structure in 2013, and given the go-ahead in 2015, the project has received five extensions by city planners. The 5,200-square-foot plot was purchased by Umran from Ascot Circle Realty in December 2023 for $1.2 million, according to Lehigh County property records.