A six-story concert venue could be on its way to Downtown
Allentown near PPL Plaza.
Think Loud LLC, a York-based developer, proposed to build
the 60,000-square-foot venue, with Alvin H. Butz Inc. of Allentown as the
construction manager, confirmed Margaret McConnell, enterprise marketing
manager for Butz.
At the Farr Lot across from the PPL Center hockey arena
being built and the Alvin H. Butz Corporate Headquarters building, the project
is estimated to cost between $36 million and $42 million, McConnell said. The
lot is at North Eighth Street between Hamilton and Linden streets. The
Allentown Parking Authority owns the property.
"We don't have the property yet, the only thing we've
done is submit a proposal to the Parking Authority," McConnell said.
Butz has been negotiating with the authority for the past
two months. A final sale price should be determined next week, she said.
The project would be in the Neighborhood Improvement Zone,
which affords tax incentives for developers and has been a major driver of the
growth in the city's downtown.
As the developers for the project, Think Loud is proposing a
mixed-use, six-story building and separate three-story building that would be a
music venue, McConnell said.
The six-story building would have four floors of office
space and a VIP lounge connected to the club. A project name for the
office/retail/entertainment facility has not been determined, she said.
"I think the Butz family remains committed to seeing
Allentown fully redeveloped and revitalized," McConnell said. "We are
still planning to expand the [Butz] corporate office headquarters."
Since the music venue is still early in the design phase,
Butz is not looking to start construction until the end of this year, McConnell
said. The project would take about a year to complete.
Hopefully, she said, "the music venue project would
bring more people into the downtown, not just for work, but for pleasure."
Think Loud did not return a phone call for comment.
Source: LVB.com
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