— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
Serfass Development is back with a new pitch for 240-plus apartments at the site of the of IQE building, just off the southern end of the Philip S. Fahy Memorial Bridge (New Street bridge).
This time, the North Whitehall Township-based developer says 10% of the units will be “affordable.” See the details here. The legal address is 119 Technology Drive, but it’s a plot of land just off the Lehigh River. Anybody who has walked across the bridge has seen the old semiconductor operation.
Bethlehem City Council shot down a plan last year for apartments at the site, which is zoned IR for Industrial Redevelopment. It’s old Bethlehem Steel land. IQE, a British semiconductor company moved out, leaving the four acres unused.
Council declined to change the zoning to Central Business (allowing apartments) last time, apparently thinking Intel or Nvidia was going to use the site.
The rejection struck me as peculiar because Council often talks about ways to add housing, and the administration of Mayor J. William Reynolds supported a zoning change.
There was also some nonsense about how the IQE building contains a “clean room,” where semiconductors can be made or designed. Some people viewed this part of the facility as a national treasure, oddly enough.
Clean-room technology has changed and one that is not up-to-date or maintained is of little value.
Serfass will be back before City Council on Tuesday to pitch its new plan. The City of Bethlehem has almost no control over the cost of housing, but perhaps it can use its zoning authority as a cudgel.
Should it?
The catch is, there is no free lunch. If some units cost less, that money comes from somewhere. On top of that, when something is priced below cost, there is bureaucracy to make sure that people aren’t gaming the system to get a good deal. That bureaucracy does not come free either, and can divert scarce resources into paper-pushing and proclamations.
Bethlehem City Council will meet Tuesday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. in Town Hall. Council will also meet as a “committee of the whole,” an awkward term meaning all members should be there, at 6 p.m. in Town Hall to review the 2025-2029 capital plan.
The agendas are subject to change. Check Tuesday.
Here’s the pleasantly brief committee of the whole agenda, and here’s the regular one complete with the Serfass plan.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 