EMMAUS, Pa. – The Emmaus Zoning Hearing Board continued a special exception request to convert a former sports pub into residential housing Wednesday night at borough hall.
The applicant, Volpe’s Real Estate Holdings, sought change of use zoning relief to convert the former Volpe’s Sports Bar into residential apartments at 52-54 S. Fifth St. The property is located in the borough’s Downtown Neighborhood district.
After 18 years in business, the sports bar closed April 4. The establishment was a second location of the sports pub, with the first at 1926 W. Tilghman St. in Allentown.
The property features more than 5,000 square feet of restaurant space, six one-bedroom apartments, and two two-bedroom apartments. The three-story structure was built in 1904.
Francis Volpe told zoners Wednesday night said the bar business “dried up” over the last few years, and said overall the business was not doing well. He said a restaurant would perform well at the location, but after six months on the market, he had not received a formal offer.
The building currently has eight apartments, and Volpe proposed an additional five units in the request. Given the additional units and the borough’s formula for parking, Volpe would be short of the borough’s parking requirement.
In addition, questions surfaced Wednesday night about whether the parking on site meets the dimension requirements in the borough’s code. Volpe also did not submit a professionally engineered site plan for the hearing.
Given the uncertainty, the zoning hearing board recommended Volpe continue the hearing to obtain and clarify information to which he agreed.
Copyright 2026 Maranatha Broadcasting Co., Inc.. All Rights Reserved.