Still concerned about the height of the proposed new construction, the Historical and Architectural Review Board took no action again on the Ironside Lofts project for 33 Walnut St. at their lengthy Dec. 3 meeting in the city hall Rotunda.<\/p>\n
Larken Associates CEO David Gardner and architect Stuart Johnson returned with revisions to their proposal for a seven-story mixed-use building on Block 14, adjacent to the controversial Walnut Street Garage. They explained they had incorporated board and public feedback they had received when the project was critiqued at the Aug. 13 hearing.<\/p>\n
The Bethlehem Parking Authority\u2019s recently-completed parking deck had been built after city council overruled HARB\u2019s refusal to grant a certificate of appropriateness for it due to height and massing concerns. While the entire aging city-owned garage was razed to make room for new construction, the new parking facility does not fill the old footprint, leaving the western end of the property open to development.<\/p>\n
Although they liked the overall design of the residential over commercial spacing proposed for this tract, Chairperson Connie Postupack and fellow board members had requested the applicants explore lowering the building\u2019s height to better conform with historic district guidelines at last summer\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n
The proposed building would align with, and attach to the west wall of the parking garage on a hill that slopes downward toward Main Street. Johnson explained that this is what makes the west fa\u00e7ade of the new building appear taller.<\/p>\n
While Johnson did not eliminate the seventh story, he did step it back from the western fa\u00e7ade in order to make the top story \u201cnot visible\u201d to someone looking up at the structure from street level. The north and south fa\u00e7ades of the top story had already been stepped back for the same reason. He explained that the total number of apartments was reduced to 105, with 67 of them as one-bedroom units and 38 with two bedrooms to accommodate the redesign and still be financially viable.<\/p>\n
To also address massing, the building\u2019s footprint would be U-shaped, where some apartments would face a private courtyard. An alley road connecting to West Walnut would provide access to garages belonging to the homeowners living on nearby West Market Street.<\/p>\n
Hotel Bethlehem Managing Partner Bruce Haines, Bethlehem resident Michael Bianco and West Market Street resident Martin Romeril provided public comment. Like the board members, they were impressed with the overall look of the structure and said they appreciated the applicants\u2019 willingness to work with them.<\/p>\n
All were critical of the city\u2019s and parking authority\u2019s decision to erect such a tall structure on what is now a designated World Heritage site and the precedent it may set for future proposals.<\/p>\n
As the height and massing of the proposed building\u2019s west side was still a stumbling block for most board members, Gardner expressed a willingness to explore ways that could address the commissioners\u2019 concerns. \u201cWe understand that you may still vote no,\u201d said Gardner. \u201cLet\u2019s give it the college try.\u201d<\/p>\n
As before, no vote was taken on the proposal, with the applicants agreeing to return with modified plans in an attempt to address the additional feedback they received.<\/p>\n
Ken Grieshaber from Trinity Episcopal Church, assisted by Ben Maderic from Alvin H Butz Inc., scored a certificate of appropriateness for an elevator and tower addition at the rear of 38-44 E. Market St. The new structure, clad with a brick veneer with style and color to closely match existing bricks, would face the historic church\u2019s parking lot on Milton Street.<\/p>\n
Four fixed windows on the addition\u2019s south side and a steel entrance door on the tower\u2019s west fa\u00e7ade were also approved, along with square scuppers and downspouts.<\/p>\n
The Historical and Architectural Review Board regularly meets the first Wednesday of every month to review all exterior changes proposed to buildings in the Bethlehem Historic District north of the Lehigh River. When a proposed project receives a certificate of appropriateness from the board, applicants must wait for city council to vote on it before proceeding. Meetings can be viewed on YouTube.<\/p>\n
At right, architect Stuart Johnson fields questions regarding the height of an Ironside Lofts construction proposal for 33 Walnut St. At left is Larken Associates CEO David Gardner.<\/p>\n
Hotel Bethlehem Managing Partner Bruce Haines urges HARB commissioners to reject the height of the proposed building for 33 Walnut St. At right, Bethlehem resident Michael Bianco waits for his turn at the podium.<\/p>\n
West Market Street resident Martin Romeril voices his frustration with the Bethlehem city government\u2019s handling of the process involved in razing and redeveloping the site of the Walnut Street Parking Garage.<\/p>\n
PRESS PHOTOS BY ED COURRIERThe Ironside Lofts construction site at 33 Walnut St. with the west wall of the rebuilt city parking garage at back<\/p>\n
Ken Grieshaber from Trinity Episcopal Church and contractor Ben Maderic successfully present a proposal to construct an elevator and tower addition at the rear of 38-44 E. Market.<\/p>\n
The south fa\u00e7ade of Trinity Episcopal Church facing Milton Street.<\/p>\n
Contributed photoMinno & Wasko Architects and Planners\u2019 rendering of Ironside Lofts as viewed from West Walnut Street.<\/p>\n
08:Alloy5 Architecture plans for the rear of 38-44 E. Market St. for a proposed addition behind Trinity Episcopal Church.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Still concerned about the height of the proposed new construction, the Historical and Architectural Review Board took no…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":68538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[119,121,120],"class_list":{"0":"post-68537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-allentown","8":"tag-allentown","9":"tag-allentown-headlines","10":"tag-allentown-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68537","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=68537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}