Allentown getting another new office building

ALLENTOWN, Pa. -

An eight-story-tall office building, billed as phase three of the Butz Corporate Center at Ninth and Hamilton streets in Allentown, narrowly was approved in a 3-2 vote by the citys planning commission Tuesday afternoon.

The seven enclosed floors of the new building will stand on pillars over a street level parking lot behind the existing Butz building.

The unusual split vote by the planning commission was spurred by the concerns of several neighbors, primarily that their properties may be damaged during construction.

Some said their places already were damaged during the first two phases of the Butz building construction.

The owner of Fegleys Allentown Brew Works objected to the possibility that the tall building will block the sun from reaching a solar energy system on the roof of his restaurant at 812 W. Hamilton.

The new Butz building will be erected at the rear of 840 W. Hamilton.

It will rise in what is now a parking lot on the northwest corner of two alleys: West Maple and South Lumber streets.

Tom Daniels, senior project manager with Butz, said construction will begin in March on the $15-million project and take a year to complete.

The developers volunteered to pay for pre-construction inspections for three adjoining properties along Ninth Street, but not for the entire neighborhood.

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Allentown getting another new office building