Vacant building at gateway to downtown slated for restaurant redux

The latest downtown Allentown commercial/retail project earned approval from a city board Wednesday and is expected to draw attention to the gateway to the downtown.

J.B. Reilly, CEO of City Center Investment Corp., presented a plan to the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority to build a new restaurant with potential commercial or residential space in a vacant H&R Block building at the corner of Eighth and Linden streets, according to Sy Traub, chairman of the ANIZDA board.

“This is the first project approved beyond Hamilton Street; this is the first movement outside the Hamilton Street core,” Traub said this morning. “That is significant because we are going to see how it spreads out into the neighborhoods.”

Reilly leads a company that is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in new business in Allentown.

A few years ago, the state approved legislation for the Neighborhood Improvement Zone, which offered tax incentives for economic development on designated parcels in Allentown, helping incentivize projects, such as City Center Lehigh Valley, which are in the NIZ.

Traub said Reilly has a $185 million revolving loan account with National Penn Bank and a consortium of banks for the projects that are within the NIZ boundaries. Reilly presents each project to the ANIZDA board for approval.

The revolving loan account allows Reilly to develop about $400 million to $500 million worth of these projects over several years, Traub said.

The project should cost about $2 million to build and includes about 4,000 square feet of retail space.

“We are talking to several prospective operators and we are going to begin construction in 60 days; and we hope to have the facility open in the spring,” Reilly said this morning.

The restaurant would offer a casual/family type atmosphere and front Eighth Street, with a bar planned on the side facing Linden Street, said Brett Kemmerer, director of restaurant development for City Center Lehigh Valley.

“We think that could be a popular area for patrons of the arena and also for people working downtown,” Kemmerer said. “I’m getting a lot of interest now in that space. What we are trying to do with this property is really have diverse dining options.”

Reilly said the plan calls for outside dining on the sidewalk and possibly an outdoor rooftop bar area.

On the second floor, City Center plans to develop the space for a small company, possibly an office tenant, Kemmerer said. Reilly said the space could also possibly be renovated for residential use.

Since it serves as a gateway to the downtown, the project would facilitate the rehabilitation of the neighborhoods, Reilly said.

Reilly said City Center has owned the building for two years and said no tenants were displaced.

North Star Construction Management of Upper Macungie Township is performing the design/build.

Source: LVB.com