Bethlehem City Council to Consider Revolving Loan Fund to Boost Housing Development

Oct. 6, 2025

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

Bethlehem City Council will hear about a plan for a revolving loan fund (RLF) for housing at its meeting Tuesday.

A memo from the administration of Mayor J. William Reynolds says the fund could get projects moving:

“Housing revolving loan funds offer low-interest, short-term loans for the development,
preservation or rehabilitation of mixed-income housing. RLF loans can help close the
financing gap on projects, taking strong projects from infeasible to shovel ready. When a
borrower repays the initial loan, the money returns to the fund, allowing it to be used for
another project, thus creating a self-renewing, sustainable source of financing for future
projects.”

See the entire memo. Some people and advocacy groups contend Bethlehem has a housing crisis; some others who already own homes are less enthusiastic about plans for more dwellings.

The item is on the Tuesday agenda because the administration wants City Council to approve a contract for $12,500 to The Center for Public Enterprise to set up such a fund.

The Brooklyn, New York-based center says on its website that it is “an organization focused on broadening the public sector’s capacity to deliver economic development” and it has a “think tank.”

Click here for the agenda item.

Council will also see Bethlehem’s 2026-2030 Capital Plan, which includes a lot of long-term projects. Being in the plan does not guarantee completion by any date, or ever.

Among the proposals are traffic lights at East Boulevard and Linden Street, site of many backups as southbound drivers go left on East; Butztown Road and Easton Avenue, an area where eastbound traffic backs up to the Giant shopping center; Linden Street and Elmhurst Avenue, and Union Boulevard and Third Avenue.

The Butztown light could be a challenge. There are already three lights (Willow Park Road, Monro Muffler and the one at the Giant center entrance) and traffic there is already a mess.

Bethlehem City Council will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 7 in Town Hall. Links to the agenda and a webcast of the meeting can be found here.

Agendas are subject to change. Check the city’s website Tuesday.