Allentown Developer Plans Tallest Building In Lehigh Valley

The PPL Building (seen here in the distance) is the tallest building in Allentown, Pennsylvania. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After decades of spreading out, Allentown could be growing up, its skyline altered by the Lehigh Valley‘s tallest building.

Developer Bruce Loch unveiled plans Wednesday for the 33-story Landmark Tower at Ninth and Walnut streets. The $60-million project would include nearly 200,000 square feet of office, retail and residential space and eclipse the vacant Martin Tower, the former headquarters of Bethlehem Steel and the Valley’s tallest building, by 20 feet.

Loch, an experienced residential builder in the Lehigh Valley with more than $100 million in development under his belt, is making his first foray into this type of project, which he said would be on a lot owned by the Allentown Parking Authority, next to the authority’s garage on Walnut Street.

The property is in the city’s one-of-a-kind Neighborhood Improvement Zone, which allows developers to tap tenants’ state and city taxes, not including property taxes, to finance construction.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-allentown-lehigh-valley-tallest-building-20130327,0,5430141.story

Harrisburg Shootings Lead To Street Barricade, Shaken Residents

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Dauphin County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hours after Harrisburg police barricaded an uptown street for safety, shots rang out throughout the city’s crime-ridden Allison Hill early Saturday, wounding at least two men and leaving residents shaken.

Residents, some awakened by volleys of bullets, found the sound of gunfire all too familiar.

Gunshot victims bled on the streets, one on South 14th and one on Brookwood.

Police cars, their lights flashing “like Christmas trees” as one resident described it, descended on the neighborhoods.

Read more: http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2012/08/harrisburg_shootings_lead_to_s.html