Millennials, boomers filling up our cities

Living where you work, at least within walking or biking distance, is gaining traction with millennials.

Combine this with a more transient lifestyle and the expansive professional possibilities of our digital age, and you have a burgeoning movement of growth in urban living among young adults. There, they hold impromptu meetings and get-togethers and walk to shops, restaurants and bars, bringing urban centers to life.

Meanwhile, as baby boomers age and grow weary of mowing lawns, shoveling snow and fixing homes, they also are gravitating to an urban environment with walkable amenities – particularly since the schooling of their children is no longer an issue.

The lure of living in the city for young adults and empty nesters has been fairly common the past 15 or so years in Manhattan and other cities across the nation. But it is only recently that it has taken hold in Philadelphia and now is beginning to occur in the Lehigh Valley’s cities of Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton.

“It’s definitely a real trend, a national trend,” said Antonio Fiol-Silva, an urban planner, architect and principal at Wallace Roberts & Todd in Philadelphia. “It’s particularly strong in Philadelphia more than any other city.”

When millennials and empty nesters have the choice, they are increasingly being drawn to cities, which is driving real estate growth in Philadelphia, Fiol-Silva said.

Cities such as Philadelphia that are walkable, have good parks and nearby establishments are attracting millennials and empty nesters because the desire to be close to high-quality schools is not so much a factor. Many millennial couples, in fact, are delaying the start of having children.

The flight to the city is something that Philadelphia shares with the Lehigh Valley cities, according to Fiol-Silva, whose firm designed STRATA Flats, a luxury apartment complex in downtown Allentown.

“Older people don’t want to take care of a house; younger people have a more transient life,” said Mark Mulligan, who is developing apartments in Easton. “I think you’ll find that trend is going to continue.”

This return to urban living started in Manhattan in the 1990s. At about the same time in the Lehigh Valley – Bethlehem, in particular – initiatives began that would lead to population growth in its cities, said Mulligan, CEO of VM Development LLC in Easton.

Bethlehem was ahead of the curve in creating an atmosphere of cleanliness and safety. Easton partnered with Lafayette College in efforts to create the appearance of being clean and safe.

Now, people are returning to live in those cities.

A similar wave is occurring in Allentown with the Neighborhood Improvement Zone tax incentives, which led to significant commercial and residential growth the past two years.

Now, both young and old are calling all three cities home.

“The demand seems to be there,” Mulligan said.

While Easton’s downtown restaurant growth has ramped up over the past year, garnering most of the attention, the city has seen a rising demand in upscale apartments.

“Mostly, we do believe that the landscape has changed,” Mulligan said. “My parents told me they would retire in Manhattan from the suburbs of Ohio.”

That’s exactly what they did, said Mulligan, who lives on a farm with his family in Hunterdon County, N.J.

“I get the best of both worlds, I live on a farm, went to college in Manhattan, and now I’m doing inner city development,” Mulligan said.

His company is behind much of the large recent redevelopment projects in Easton, including the Pomeroy Lofts, an adaptive reuse of a vacant building into upscale apartments with restaurants occupying space on the first floor. The apartments in that project, completed a few years ago, are fully occupied and leased, he said.

Meanwhile, the Governor Wolf building, also in downtown Easton, features 50 upscale units in a former county government building which will be complete Feb. 1, Mulligan said.

More apartments are headed to another Mulligan project, Easton’s Simon Silk Mill off 13th Street, not far from the bustling downtown. Construction is underway, with the first part of the project, which includes commercial space, expected to open at the end of this year.

With its tall buildings, many of which can be adaptively reused, Mulligan sees Easton as a place ready for the growth of urban living and its ability to offer local services, including restaurants and other businesses within walking or biking distance.

Meanwhile, Dennis Benner, a Bethlehem developer, is entering the Easton rental market by renovating the multistory Wells Fargo building in downtown Easton to create upscale apartments.

“You still have people building residential suburban apartments, but you can see nationwide, the rental market is very strong,” Mulligan said.

The opening of STRATA Flats, which has commercial space on the ground floor, was the first new upscale residential property in Allentown to capitalize on the downtown’s recent spate of redevelopment.

When it opened in 2015 with 170 apartments that were fully leased in about three months, the project drew a substantial amount of empty nesters, along with the expected millennials. City Center Investment Corp., the company behind the development, plans to build STRATA II, a project for which it already has a waiting list.

J.B. Reilly, president and CEO of City Center, said the strong residential demand can be seen among younger and older renters in New York City and Philadelphia, as well.

“The Philadelphia residential market is hot again,” Reilly said. “It’s really driven by two things – the millennial demographic – they want the excitement of the city, they want that kind of lifestyle. The baby boomers are interested in that lifestyle as well.”

Baby boomers find themselves living in a suburban environment where they don’t have a social network, Reilly said. In suburban communities, many younger families are moving in, and the empty nesters are finding they don’t have anything in common with their neighbors, he said.

“Even though STRATA was designed more for the millennial market, we have seen a lot of interest from empty nesters,” he said.

For STRATA II, City Center plans to offer larger units for empty nesters seeking more space.

“We thought that successfully leasing out STRATA was the first step in the residential renewal of the downtown,” Reilly said. “STRATA has established downtown Allentown as a market-rate residential environment. We think that sets the foundation of housing renewal in the neighborhoods around the downtown.”

The spike in rental demand could lead to home ownership and investment in townhouses and condos in Allentown, Reilly said, noting that it wouldn’t occur overnight.

The attraction of younger and older renters to the Valley’s urban markets is boosted by places such as the SteelStacks property in South Side Bethlehem, which offers year-round activities such as concerts and races.

“In Bethlehem, the cultural aspect is very strong,” Fiol-Silva said.

His firm designed the Hoover Mason Trestle, an elevated walking path at the former Bethlehem Steel plant that draws visitors and serves as the backdrop for community and cultural events.

Bethlehem benefits from its location and historic fabric, plus that everything is really close and within walking distance, such as Lehigh University and numerous retail establishments, Fiol-Silva said.

Furthermore, projects such as Benner’s plan to build a multistory office building at the gateway to the South Side at Third and New streets could see the benefits of location, drawing more people to live in the city.

People will always have a need for a suburban living experience, a bigger yard and the need to travel in a car on the highways.

“I think that what’s happening is that people have more choices,” Fiol-Silva said. “This is all part of a trend. I think the Lehigh Valley is a terrific example.”

The cities are increasingly attracting people who have discretionary time and income.

Some are deciding whether they want to spend two hours a day commuting in a car on the highways or using that time to walk around a vibrant, urban environment.

For a growing number of people, both young and old, the choice is clear.

Source: LVB