Developer secures real estate, air rights for 33-story tower

It’s been 31 years since a developer introduced a plan to build a 33-story tower in Allentown.

In March, the project earned planning commission approval.

Now, with the acquisition of the deeds for the real estate and adjoining air rights at the project site, construction could start by the fall.

The $70 million Allentown Landmark Tower project at the corner of Ninth and Walnut streets includes retail and office space, residential units and a parking deck. The developer, Bruce Loch, is a Certified Public Accountant who leads an accounting and consulting firm in South Whitehall Township. He originally proposed the tower in 1984 and two years ago reintroduced the idea.

The building would have two floors of retail, 24 floors of offices and seven floors of condominiums, Loch said. He is marketing the property through his firm, Ascot Circle Realty LLC.

Loch said he received two deeds, one for the air rights, and another for the real estate.

“Air rights give you a right to build on top of another building,” Loch said. “They are very common in the big cities like New York and Philadelphia.”

Since the Allentown Parking Authority sold the property to Loch, the agency also had to sell the air rights to him since it owns the adjacent parking deck that the tower would dwarf.

The cantilever design of the tower, which has a narrow base that widens from the bottom to the top, takes advantage of air rights and easements and allows the tower to occupy additional space in three directions.

With an exterior of glass and metal panel, the tower would be built on a 5,200-square-foot plot and become the tallest structure in the Lehigh Valley.

At about 430 feet, Landmark Tower would top PPL’s building height (322 feet) in Allentown. Martin Tower in Bethlehem is 330 feet tall.

Floors one through five would each be 5,200 square feet. Floors six through 33 each would be 7,100 square feet, Loch said.

“We are going to have 400 people in the building,” Loch said. “[There will be] more foot traffic on the street. It’s just going to add to the vibrancy that’s already there,” referring to the existing dramatic redevelopment of Allentown’s downtown.

He also has a 20-year lease for 250 parking spaces from the parking authority. The tower will have a direct connection to the 540-space parking deck.

The property, in the Neighborhood Improvement Zone, would bring tax incentives that could be a powerful draw for tenants. Under the NIZ, tax revenues flow back to developers and help to subsidize monthly mortgage payments. The developers, in turn, can offer low monthly rents to businesses.

“We are very close to several tenants, any one of which could fill the building,” Loch said.

W2A Design Group of Allentown is the architect. NorthStar Construction Management of Upper Macungie Township is the construction management firm.

The tower would go up across from City Center Investment Corp.’s planned Five City Center Urban Innovation Campus, a project that encompasses the entire block of Seventh and Hamilton and Eighth and Hamilton streets, including Seventh and Walnut and Eighth and Walnut streets to the rear. This plan includes a 17-floor innovation tower with mainly offices and some retail on the ground floor and a 19-floor residential tower of 175 apartment units, with office and retail included.

Source: LVB