{"id":136320,"date":"2026-03-12T11:29:40","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:29:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/136320\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T11:29:40","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T11:29:40","slug":"urban-residential-gets-mixed-review-on-four-apartment-buildings-near-the-riverfront-from-allentown-planners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/136320\/","title":{"rendered":"Urban Residential gets mixed review on four apartment buildings near the riverfront from Allentown planners"},"content":{"rendered":"

Urban Residential Properties is already making its mark in Allentown\u2019s riverfront neighborhood with its redevelopment of the Neuweiler Lofts, but the developer has even more ambitious plans for the rapidly changing area along the Lehigh River that was once an industrial hub.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, Urban Residential presented four projects to the Allentown Planning Commission. One of them, at 249-301 N. Front St., already received preliminary-final approval in June<\/a>, but was revised. The other three projects are mixed-use buildings proposed along Riverside Drive. All would have market-rate rentals.<\/p>\n

Overall, the projects would add more than 1,000 apartments and 57,000 square feet of retail space. When included with Jaindl Enterprises\u2019 The Waterfront<\/a>, there is the potential for 2,050 new residential units between Hamilton Street and the Tilghman Street bridge.<\/p>\n

In a meeting that lasted from lunchtime to dinnertime, commission members went back and forth with Urban Residential\u2019s architect, Carlos Tovar from Diseno Urbano, and partner John Palumbo on issues including parking, public access to the river, and the buildings\u2019 aesthetics. Community members also added their concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re putting our money where our mouth is,\u201d Palumbo said.<\/p>\n

Two projects received conditional approval:<\/p>\n

249-301 N. Front St.<\/p>\n

The building is being proposed at the site of the former American Atelier furniture factory. When completed it would have 16 stories, making it one of the tallest buildings in the city, and take up 707,000 square feet.<\/p>\n

Among the changes to the initial plan is the number of units, which were increased from 267 to 360. Tovar said the count is being increased by cutting down the number of three-bedroom units from 76 to four and adding 71 studios. Also in the mix are 186 one-bedroom and 103 two-bedroom units.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we have more studios, which will be more attainable,\u201d Tovar said.<\/p>\n

The new plan reduces commercial retail and office space by more than half, from about 50,000 square feet to 21,556. There are more amenities including a gym, spa, a swimming area that includes a children\u2019s pool, coworking spaces and event spaces.<\/p>\n

Commission Chair Christian Brown was concerned with parking, which would be in a garage that would be part of the building and take up parts of the first six floors with 478 spaces, including several for visitors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat concerns me is we\u2019re essentially providing 1.01 parking spaces per unit,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThere\u2019s a chance that some households may have no cars and some households may have more than one car. If there\u2019s not some sort of dedicated parking for the retail or visitors, we\u2019re going to have a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parking has been an issue for the neighborhood, as many residents have no choice but to park on the street because their homes do not have a driveway or garage. Linda Vega, who lives across the street from the project area, expressed concern about that, but also wanted to know if anything could be done to help spruce up some of the properties along Front Street.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to be able to feel like the minimum that could be done is to invest in some of the communities,\u201d Vega said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to feel like, \u2018Oh, look at that big, expensive building, and then here\u2019s my little meek house.\u2019 \u201c<\/p>\n

Conditions for the approval included coordinating pedestrian access to Buck Boyle Park and the riverfront and addressing \u201cblank\u201d garage walls. The developer was also encouraged to engage with neighbors.<\/p>\n

The project is in Allentown\u2019s Neighborhood Improvement Zone, the city\u2019s unique taxing district. However, Urban Residential does not plan to take advantage of any subsidies. The other three proposals are not in the NIZ.<\/p>\n

115 Riverside Drive<\/p>\n

Dubbed \u201cPark Lofts,\u201d this building would be seven stories with 242 units \u2014 including 41 studios, 141 one-bedroom and 60 two-bedroom \u2014 and 13,195 square feet of retail space. Parking would be indoors on three levels, with 312 spaces.<\/p>\n

It would be built on a 2-acre parcel that Urban Residential purchased in September for $2 million<\/a>. It sits near the America On Wheels car museum and is bordered by Wharf Street and Boyle Park.<\/p>\n

Criticism of the plan from commissioners included the building\u2019s look, which was compared to \u201ca semi-suburban, resort-style apartment complex.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brown said he wanted this building, and the proposed building at 51 N. Front, to be something that \u201cwelcomes\u201d visitors to the riverfront area, and he doesn\u2019t really see that in the designs.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like the bearer of bad news,\u201d Brown said, \u201cbut I want it to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among the conditions were a plan for a complete streetscape along Riverside Drive \u2014 including benches, trash receptacles and pedestrian-scale lighting. On-street parking will also be looked at.<\/p>\n

The two other projects were tabled to a future meeting.<\/p>\n

51 N. Front Street<\/p>\n

The proposed \u201cRS Residences\u201d would be seven stories with 210 units, including 47 studios, 110 one-bedroom, 48 two-bedroom and five three-bedroom apartments. About 4,500 square feet of retail space is planned, with 286 indoor parking spaces.<\/p>\n

This project is on a 1.5-acre parcel used for overflow parking for America on Wheels. It is across Wharf Street from the Park Lofts. Urban Residential bought it in September for $1.75 million.<\/p>\n

Criticism of this project was the \u201csquarish\u201d design, with a flat roof, along with the fact that it is not really along the riverfront, as a PPL substation stands between the property and the Lehigh. People wanting to access the D&L Trail would have to walk up Riverside Drive to The Waterfront to get there.<\/p>\n

Commission members asked for architectural variety, such as recesses, the addition of a cornice and more windows on the first-floor south elevation to create an \u201cactive\u201d street presence. Member Jeff Glazier said the building was pretty much \u201ca placeholder\u201d with its current design.<\/p>\n

2 W. Allen St.<\/p>\n

This one is further up Riverside, directly across from The Waterfront. It includes an old industrial building that once housed a scrap metal business and the site is considered an adaptive reuse project.<\/p>\n

The new building would be seven stories that would include 200 units \u2014 45 studios, 112 one-bedroom and 43 two-bedroom apartments \u2014 along with 240 interior parking spaces and 18,000 square-feet of retail space.<\/p>\n

Concerns were mostly along the property\u2019s west side along Brick Street, which one resident said is so narrow, neighbors went weeks without trash collection after recent snowstorms because a plow couldn\u2019t get through. Brown wondered if the building could be moved about 5 feet to make the street wider.<\/p>\n

That may be possible, Brown suggested, if the empty building is incorporated into the design, similar to the Neuweiler tower.<\/p>\n

Palumbo said the building is too deteriorated to be saved and moving the new building might be too complicated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if it\u2019s financially feasible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Urban Residential Properties is already making its mark in Allentown\u2019s riverfront neighborhood with its redevelopment of the Neuweiler…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":136321,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120,433,182,139,28,432],"class_list":["post-136320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-allentown","tag-allentown","tag-allentown-headlines","tag-allentown-news","tag-lehigh-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-top-stories-tmc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136320\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/136321"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}