{"id":229363,"date":"2026-06-27T03:39:23","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T03:39:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/229363\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T03:39:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T03:39:23","slug":"90-foot-tall-141-room-hotel-set-to-enjoy-its-stay-along-south-bethlehems-third-street-corridor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/229363\/","title":{"rendered":"90-foot-tall, 141-room hotel set to enjoy its stay along South Bethlehem\u2019s Third Street corridor"},"content":{"rendered":"

BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a certificate of appropriateness<\/a> to allow development of a 141-room hotel in South Bethlehem\u2019s Historic Conservation District.<\/p>\n

The 90-foot-tall Tempo by Hilton hotel, set for 14-36 W. 3rd St., was pitched by Lancaster-based High Hotels Ltd. to include a ground-level restaurant and bar, rooftop bar and expanded fitness center in a building along the western end of the South Bethlehem Greenway.<\/p>\n

Two structures on the property, both slated for demolition, stand across from the Banana Factory and next to the six-story, multi-use Gateway at Greenway Park building at Third and South New streets. <\/p>\n

That corner building also is attached to the New Street Parking Garage.<\/p>\n

The city Historic Conservation Commission, a recommending body reviewing modifications to the outside of buildings in the Historic Conservation District, supported the proposal last month<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The applicant will be back before historic officials with even finer project details \u2014 such as storefront systems, signage and lighting \u2014 later.<\/p>\n

Another previous approval<\/p>\n

Former property owner Patriot Ventures LLC and its previous proposal known as South Pointe Flats, which was approved in 2021, called for an eight-story structure with ground-floor commercial storefronts and multifamily residential dwellings in the floors above.<\/p>\n

In 2021, HCC recommended to deny that project. City Council ultimately overruled that decision, though the property ended up having a change in ownership.<\/p>\n

That meant that particular certificate of appropriateness for South Pointe Flats was still standing prior to Wednesday\u2019s vote, with the new developer working to make adjustments under city guidance in the time leading up to the decision.<\/p>\n

Former property owner Patriot Ventures LLC and its previous proposal known as South Pointe Flats called for an eight-story structure with ground-floor commercial storefronts and multifamily residential dwellings in the floors above.<\/p>\n

After some back-and-forth from the panel over the particulars of the vote, council solicitor Stephanie Steward and city solicitor John Spirk Jr. agreed officials would have to weigh any potential change on the general historical nature of the district \u2014 specifically any change from what\u2019s already been approved with the previous COA.<\/p>\n

Citing Pennsylvania Statutes Title 53 P.S. Municipal and Quasi-Municipal Corporations \u00a7 8004, Steward said, \u201cIf you deny a COA, that denial has to be written. <\/p>\n

“And you can say, ‘This is why we find it inappropriate, why we denied it and these are the corrections that could be made.’<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s also an appeal process set forth in the ordinance.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘An economic win’<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Rachel Leon said she felt the proposed hotel certainly was a better use of what\u2019s there currently.<\/p>\n

It could complement the incoming ArtsQuest Cultural Arts Center<\/a>, she said, bringing a new energy to the area without any broader changes to surrounding infrastructure such as a new parking facility.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, this is an economic win,\u201d Leon said. \u201cThis is a high-end hotel that wants to be in South Bethlehem and is not asking us to do anything other than say, \u2018Yeah, go ahead.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the most recent conversations I\u2019ve had with the Discover Lehigh Valley folks who track this pretty closely is that in the area we see about 80-percent occupancy rate in hotels, which is very high.”<\/p>\n

Community and Economic Development Director Laura Collins<\/p>\n

Both the hotel\u2019s potential effects on Third Street traffic flow and current vacancy rates in the area were what concerned Councilwoman Grace Crampsie Smith the most about the proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the most recent conversations I\u2019ve had with the Discover Lehigh Valley folks who track this pretty closely is that in the area we see about 80-percent occupancy rate in hotels, which is very high,\u201d Community and Economic Development Director Laura Collins said in response.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve heard from them that there is indeed a need for and a value in additional hotel rooms in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Filling ‘a need within the city’<\/p>\n

Councilman Bryan Callahan said the current tax revenue coming from the property probably is far below what could come from the proposed project once completed, also factoring in all the new jobs for South Bethlehem.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the property as it is right now, there\u2019s really nothing that\u2019s historic on the property, Callahan said. “And I think it is a need within the city.\u201d<\/p>\n

Callahan called the occupancy rates at nearby Wind Creek Bethlehem casino \u201castronomical.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at the property as it is right now, there\u2019s really nothing that\u2019s historic on the property. \u2026 And I think it is a need within the city.”<\/p>\n

Bethlehem City Councilman Bryan Callahan<\/p>\n

Councilwoman Colleen Laird said, \u201cI\u2019m really glad to hear that there\u2019s been conversation both ways, and I see the note in the proposal that the applicant would be returning to the HCC for some further conversation about the details to help blend it in.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I appreciate that, as well, and think it\u2019s a good example of how we can balance things in our development.\u201d<\/p>\n

‘Tiny Manhattan on the Lehigh’<\/p>\n

City resident Bill Scheirer argued the new hotel would not be historically appropriate.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think taller buildings make people feel smaller. That\u2019s why I would not choose to live in Manhattan.”<\/p>\n

City resident Bill Scheirer <\/p>\n

\u201cI think taller buildings make people feel smaller,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s why I would not choose to live in Manhattan.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now there are some people here who think this is a good thing that we get to see Tiny Manhattan on the Lehigh.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BETHLEHEM, Pa. \u2014 City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a certificate of appropriateness to allow development of a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229364,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[99361,153,164,155,154,99362,99363,99366,1076,99364,99365,635],"class_list":["post-229363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-14-36-w-3rd-st-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-city-council","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-hotels-in-bethlehem","tag-hotels-to-stay-at-in-bethlehem","tag-new-hotel-in-bethlehem","tag-south-bethlehem","tag-tempo-by-hilton-bethlehem","tag-third-street-corridor-bethlehem","tag-will-oliver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229363","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=229363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229363\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}