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<\/p>\nBETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Will the seven-story, mixed-use building proposed at West Walnut Street in the city’s Historic District be built?<\/p>\n
Or will it be history?<\/p>\n
A two-hour session before the Bethlehem Historical Architectural Review Board on Wednesday night brought no answer.<\/p>\n
At issue is the height of the building, which would tower above many others in the historic district and affect its skyline.<\/p>\n
The rear of the building would face the historic district.<\/p>\n
The property is currently zoned within the Central Business District and High Density Residential.<\/p>\n
Following presentations by representatives of Larken Associates, a New Jersey real estate developer, questions from the HARB board members and public comments, no vote was taken on the proposal.<\/p>\n
Larken Chief Executive Officer David Gardner was given approval by the board to return at an undetermined date to further pitch the project after possible changes.<\/p>\n
Should Larken make its final presentation at that time, the board would make its recommendation to City Council whether to approve the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve heard a lot here [from the board] and from the public,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if we can lose one of the floors.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seven floors, 108 units<\/p>\n
The building would be constructed adjacent to the planned parking garage on West Walnut Street.<\/p>\n
Plans show the building would contain first-floor commercial (retail, restaurant or personal service) space.<\/p>\n
The upper floors would have 108 residential units \u2014 60 one-bedroom and 48 two-bedroom apartments.<\/p>\n
“It’s a gorgeous building, no doubt. It’s just too tall.”<\/p>\n
Diana Hodgson, HARB board member<\/p>\n
The ground floor would provide for a boutique hotel-style lobby, with a concierge, private rooms and event space for parties.<\/p>\n
Outdoor seasonal dining is planned for one end of the property.<\/p>\n
The property is owned by Bethlehem Parking Authority.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m concerned about the height,\u201d HARB Chairwoman Connie Postupak said. \u201cIt seems it\u2019s pushing the envelope a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stewart A. Johnson, of Minno & Wasko Architects and Planners, disputed that notion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we are,\u201d Johnson said. The building “can go to 150 feet. It conforms with the city\u2019s zoning code.\u201d<\/p>\n
Renderings show the building would have a molded brick facade that reflects an old world brick look, Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the design of the building conforms with the goals and objectives of the zone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
‘It’s just too tall’<\/p>\n
Board member Diana Hodgson did not dispute the attractiveness of the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a gorgeous building, no doubt,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s just too tall.\u201d<\/p>\n
Johnson described photographs on a slide presentation that showed the building height in close comparison to surrounding buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut this building will be in the Historic District,\u201d board member Rodman Young countered. \u201cThe other buildings you\u2019re comparing it to in height are outside the Historic District.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Phil Gianficaro<\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
LehighValleyNews.com<\/p>\n
Bruce Haines, managing partner of Historic Hotel Bethlehem, urges HARB board to reject proposal for seven-story, mixed-use building planned for Historic District.<\/p>\n
Among the most fervent opponents of the project was Bruce Haines, managing partner of Historic Hotel Bethlehem, who addressed the board and called the proposed building \u201calmost disrespectful to us on Main Street.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe all of you, as Historic Review Board people, that I encourage you to stay the course,\u201d Haines said. \u201cDon\u2019t try to cave in and say [you\u2019ll approve it] just because the city council overrode you.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour job in my mind is to say, is this appropriate for our Historic District. This is one of the best, most recognized Historic Districts in the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope all of you will stand tall by what your standards are and what you\u2019re here for.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 Will the seven-story, mixed-use building proposed at West Walnut Street in the city’s Historic District…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":140224,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,51070,154,64321,3484,3486,3487,64322,29458,1081,64323],"class_list":["post-140223","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-historic-architectural-review-board","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-bethlehems-historic-district","tag-bruce-haines","tag-historic-hotel-bethlehem","tag-hotel-bethlehem","tag-ironside-lofts-bethlehem","tag-larken-associates","tag-real-estate","tag-seven-story-building-proposed-in-bethlehem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140223","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=140223"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140223\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140223"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140223"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140223"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}