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Allentown Center Square
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Description
- Historic resoration of two landmark buildings
- Complete environmental remediation
- Adaptive reuse as 63 one-bedroom apartments affordable for senior citizens
- Revitalization catalyst for city
2005 Lehigh County Urban Redevelopment Pioneer Award
2006 Allentown Preservation League Award
Developer
Pennrose Properties
Architect
Stuart & Associates Architects, Inc.
Lancaster, PA
General Contractor
Cutler Associates, Inc.
Worcester, MA.
Management
Pennrose Management Company
The Challenge
When the Allentown National Bank opened its beaux-arts style headquarters in 1905, the handsome white eight-story structure was the pride of Allentown, Pennsylvania. Designed by Allentown architects Jacoby, Weishampel & Biggin it boasted "two smoothly running hydraulic elevators that were the ultimate in safety" and a spacious rotunda surmounted by a dome 32 feet in height supported by 6 onyx columns. It was the essence of magnificence. When the bank relocated because the building no longer met its needs, it served other tenants until it was vacated in the 1990s and became the white elephant of Allentown. Taken over by the City of Allentown, it and the adjacent old Trojan Powder building stood as deteriorating reminders of the city's lost heyday. Two developers failed to make their plans for the buildings work in 2001 and 2002. The historic buildings seemed destined for demolition when Pennrose developed a creative plan that would restore the buildings, bring new residents into the city center, and provide a critically needed continuum of safe, secure, housing alternatives for the senior citizens of Allentown on a fixed income.
The Solution
To create Allentown Center Square Senior Residences, the Pennrose Development Team worked closely with the city and Lehigh County, to assemble a complicated combination of state, city, county, and federal grants, loans, and HTC and LIHTC equity to finance the construction. With this combination of funding sources they were able to unify the Allentown National Bank and Trojan Powder commercial buildings into a singular independent living, senior apartment complex consisting of 63 one-bedroom apartments. The reconfigured interior spaces now include community rooms, management offices, computer lab, exercise and health rooms, resident laundry rooms, and on-site parking. The scope of the rehabilitation work included the remediation of all environmentally hazardous elements and the removal of non-historical elements from the buildings including a floor inserted into the bank lobby, the stabilization of the structure of the buildings including the stabilization of the ornamental cornices and facade elements, and the rehabilitation of all nineteen floors in the combined buildings.
Opened in 2005, the Allentown Center Square Senior Residences serves as a catalyst for redevelopment of the Allentown's center city. This historic restoration underscores the development team's dedication to historic preservation and the adaptive reuse of commercial properties for affordable housing. Pennrose owns, manages, and maintains this spectacular property.
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Allentown National Bank |
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