Allentown planners approve scaled-back Butz building plans

A scaled-back office building proposed for the rear of Allentown's Butz Corporate Center received narrow approval Tuesday from the Allentown Planning Commission despite objections from several neighbors.

The $15 million proposal, which now calls for a seven-story building with one floor of parking, was originally proposed as the sales headquarters for technology firm United Fiber & Data, a York-based company constructing a $200 million fiber-optics network that would stretch from New York to Virginia.

United Fiber is now considered a "potential" tenant, said Eric Butz, the building's architect and part owner of EPC Allentown, the property's developer.

Developers also have nixed plans to put three floors of upscale condominiums in the structure, which was originally slated to also have three floors of parking. As proposed, the building will now be entirely office space, save the parking on the first floor.

The cuts were made after the Butz Corp. conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the structure, Butz said.

United Fiber, a company backed financially by three members of the York rock band Live, was initially proposed as the building's primary tenant. Members of the band and company CEO Bill Hynes joined members of the Butz family and Mayor Ed Pawlowski in May 2013 to unveil plans for the building, which was to house 100 employees of the company.

United Fiber is currently a tenant of the existing Butz Corporate Center at 840 Hamilton St., Butz said. Whether United Fiber moves to the new building depends on its interest and what kind of space the company needs, Butz said.

"There's a lot of juggling to be done," he said.

Construction, which was originally slated to begin in 2014, could now begin by March 2015, Butz said. It will take about a year to build, officials said.

Neighbors of the Butz property had numerous concerns about the impact of construction in the area and traffic flow if the projects gets built.

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Allentown planners approve scaled-back Butz building plans