Here are the proposed rents and timeline for the 11-story apartment building OKd in Downtown Easton – lehighvalleylive.com

Homes reaching 10 stories high on top of a ground floor commercial space will be coming to South Third and Ferry streets.

The Easton Planning Commission on Wednesday night unanimously awarded conditional approval for an 11-story apartment building at 101 S. Third St.

Matador Hospitality LLC owns the property that is the current home to a BB&T branch. The existing bank building will remain, and the developer is subdividing that from the rear of the property where the new project is planned.

There will no longer be driveway access from the banks rear to South Bank Street.

The new building will be accessible from Ferry Street and likely will be given a Ferry Street address from the city, according to Wednesdays planning commission discussion carried virtually via Zoom.

Matador Hospitality principal Garrett Benner said construction could begin in the spring and conservatively take 15 months to complete.

Benner previously said the new building, which he estimates will cost $17 million to build, is planned with 80 apartments comprising 20 studio spaces, 50 one-bedrooms and 10 two-bedroom units.

The first floor will consist of 1,310 square feet of commercial space that is currently being considered for a caf or a restaurant.

Benner said the studios spaces are tentatively priced for yearly leases at $1,100 to $1,300 per month, with one-bedrooms priced at $1,300 to $1,500 per month.

The 11-story, 110-foot-tall building will take up most of the footprint of the lot. There will be no onsite parking but Benner said the city has agreed to enter into a long-term lease that will guarantee adequate parking spaces dedicated to the new building at nearby city-owned parking facilities.

Project engineer David Wilson said Ferry Street will need to be dug into to tie into water lines for the building. Ferry Street eventually will receive new paving on the entirety of the building frontage.

Benner said his company will work with Easton officials to coordinate how to stage traffic on the busy city streets during construction.

We have a lot of experience of doing things in tight quarters, Benner said.

The planners approval comes with conditions including that the developer adhere to comments and concerns of the city engineer, city forester, zoning administrator, fire department and codes department.

Editors note: This article was updated to correct that the property is being subdivided into two parcels as part of the project.

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John Best is a freelance contributor to lehighvalleylive.com. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.

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Here are the proposed rents and timeline for the 11-story apartment building OKd in Downtown Easton - lehighvalleylive.com