What’s next for the site of the former Merchants Square Mall in South Allentown? How about a data center?
The future of the former shopping center and industrial site on South 12th Street is still up in the air. At its meeting Tuesday, the Allentown Planning Commission agreed to a year delay for the developer, Woodmont Properties, to submit final and recorded plans. This is the second one-year extension; the original deadline was Dec. 13, 2024.
The current plan has a 133,050-square-foot warehouse building along with 3,600-square-feet of office space in a 45-foot-high building on the parcel at 1901 S. 12th St.
James Preston, an attorney representing Woodmont, said the developer had been devoting most of its attention to a warehouse project on Emaus Avenue, but will be allocating more time to this one.
“It’s not that we haven’t done anything,” Preston said, noting the developer has been working with Norfolk Southern on issues with the adjacent railroad tracks. “We’ve spent a significant amount of time doing so. We’ve had asbestos abatement and we’re currently working with PPL to look at possible data center use.”
Preston said demolition should begin in January or February.
Commission Chair Christian Brown asked city Director of Planning and Zoning Jennifer Gomez if the city has guidelines for data centers.
“It is something that we need to look into,” Gomez said. “We had considered it as part of the Zone Allentown initiative but we’re too far along to start adding in any kind of big uses that we need to think through. It’s on our radar for something for us to come back to.”
The 8.49-acre property was purchased by Woodmont for $5.275 million in March 2024. The mall closed in March 2023.