— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
An unusual property in Bethlehem is on the market, according to a real estate ad.
For those who’d like to own a burial ground, Fairview Cemetery in Bethlehem is available.
The property at 1501 N. New Street is listed at $989,000 on the Loopnet website.
Fairview covers 6.92 acres. It still has 333 available grave spaces, the ad says. At the list price, the cost is $143,940 per acre.
What can be done with the property besides bury people?
“The cemetery is actively used and popular among dog walkers, exercisers, and those seeking quiet reflection,” the ad says. It is a nice spot, but such activities don’t provide much return on investment.
The seller even has a couple potential buyers in mind, and links the value of the land to Bethlehem’s UNESCO World Heritage Site status.
From Loopnet: “The two biggest local entities that should consider a stake in this property is the City of Bethlehem and Moravian University, to make full and best use of a resource to promote the UNESCO future plan, and preserve an undeniable local treasure, insuring the large park-like green space remains as such, and is well cared for so that future generations can appreciate it’s value to those institutions and local residents.”
The goal of the owner is to preserve the property as green space. Other options are not mentioned.
For more details, see the ad.
— Editor’s note: During a tour of Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City, I learned that a cemetery is a place where people are buried that is not associated with a church or have a church on its grounds.
A graveyard is affiliated with a church and typically on church grounds. Also they tend to be smaller than cemeteries. I’ve seen the terms used interchangeably, and the distinction is in my humble opinion archaic but worth noting.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 
Even with the 333 unsold spaces, the value of this property as a piece of real estate is near zero due to perpetual maintenance needs and lack of development potential. It doesn’t have enough open acreage/unsold spaces left to attract a for-profit operator like Everstory/Stonemor. The ownership should offer it to the City for $1 and be happy if the City takes it. I highly doubt Moravian would want anything to do with it even for $1.
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StoneMor / Everstory is owned by P/E now, Axar Capital.
As you note, this is something of an odd proposition.
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This is definitely a heritage site. The city and Moravian should look into it. They could seek volunteers amongst the schools while making it an educational experience.
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