Neuweiler redevelopment to get first $25 million from ANIZDA

The project to convert the former Neuweiler brewery site into a mixed-use residential building is on its way to receiving a financial boost from the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority.

ANIZDA’s Project Review Committee voted unanimously Wednesday to approve a $25 million bond issue to help finance the $91 million project at 401 N. Front St. Final approval will have to be made by the full ANIZDA board at its September meeting.

The NIZ is Allentown’s one-of-a-kind tax subsidy zone, which includes the area around the project site at the corner of Front Street and Pump Place.

“This is a wonderful addition,” ANIZDA Board Chair Seymour Traub said. “I’m looking forward to more development down by the waterfront.”

ANIZDA Executive Director Steve Bamford said the project will be a nice complement to Jaindl Enterprises’ Waterfront project that is going up across Riverside Drive.

“I feel like we’re getting a lot of traction in this part of the city,” Bamford said.

Developer John Palumbo, chief operations officer from Urban Residential Properties, said during a presentation to the board that the project could be finished in late spring 2025. He said he’s seeing a lot of enthusiasm for bringing new life to the block.

“People understand the importance for the city of Allentown,” Palumbo said. “It’s really an incredible site and we’re really looking forward to building this thing.”

Plans call for a seven-story building with 286 apartment units, around 40,000 square feet of retail space, a parking garage and amenities such as a pool, gym and conference space.

Urban Residential has already demolished a vast swath of the former brewery with the distinctive tower-like structure and cupola still standing. Palumbo said it will house a yet-to-be-named microbrewery and a full-service restaurant. Around 4,000 barrels of beer a year will be brewed in the basement.

“We’re designing the whole project around [the tower] and that was a critical tenant for us to be able to get,” Palumbo said, “to really bring it back to life.”

“We really appreciate what you’re doing there because at one point there was a tree growing out of the cupola,” board Secretary Pedro Torres said. “We’re definitely excited for it.”

Additional future tenants include co-working space for businesses, an accounting firm and a law firm. A digital marketing company will lease an area with 5,000 square feet for studio space plus office space.

“The critical piece for developing it is activating the entire vision for it,” Palumbo said. “We’re dealing with residential, but the commercial area is just as important.”

The 286 apartments will be split evenly among one-, two- and three-bedroom units with sizes ranging from 750 to 1,700 square feet. The bigger units will feature balconies overlooking the Lehigh River.

Palumbo said rent will be $2 per square foot.

“We develop projects with larger units with good lighting so people can wake up and really feel the energy that can jumpstart an entire day,” he said.

The Neuweiler brewery was founded by German brewer Louis Neuweiler. The facility was built between 1911 and 1913, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. The building has been vacant since the brewery closed in 1968, and has deteriorated since then.

The Neuweiler Brewery redevelopment is part of a 10-year-plan to revitalize Allentown’s riverfront and turn it into a destination. The city approved a zoning change in 2021 requested by the developers to allow residential and commercial building in the riverfront area.