BETHLEHEM, Pa. - First Presbyterian Church in Bethlehem shared a site plan Thursday for a mixed-income housing development on church grounds — the most solid vision yet of what may ultimately materialize there.
While the plan is not exactly final – some tweaks are likely over the next year-plus before plans go to the city for approval, church leaders said – it represents the church’s ultimate vision for the site at 2344 Center St.
It calls for 200 total units of housing spread across townhomes, duplexes, and apartments – 33 new structures in all. Most are two stories tall; the plan includes three three-story apartment buildings and another four-story apartment building.
Along with both market-rate and income-restricted rentals, some of the residences will be offered for sale to first-time homebuyers.
The plan also includes a community center, a new network of walking trails, a community garden, and a small commercial component.
It preserves more than half of the open space on the church’s roughly 32-acre property, leaders said.
“This is not about opposition of affordable housing. It's about appropriate development.”Ryan Dunn, neighbor
Many of the finer details – like the mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, or the ratio of rentals to homes offered for sale, along with the exact cost and how it will be financed – are still up in the air.
In January, the church shared three draft versions intended to give members and neighbors an idea of a few possibilities. First Presbyterian and its consultant, Chicago-based planning firm Collabo, would merge the most popular parts of each to create a site plan.
Compared to its three progenitors, the design shared Thursday is smaller and less visible from Center Street: It calls for nothing to be built within 200 feet of Center Street, preserves more than half of the lot’s open space, and reduces the total number of units compared to even the least-dense draft, officials said.
First Presbyterian first resolved to build housing as a way to use their resources to benefit the broader community and simultaneously turn the massive church building and grounds from an albatross into a financial lifeline for its comparatively small congregation.
There is still a very long way to go. Church leaders currently estimate construction will begin in 2028, with the first residents moving in the following year. First, the property will need to be rezoned, a process set to begin in 2026.
For the next year or so, the housing development will take a backseat to First Presbyterian’s adaptive reuse project, which aims to create offices and program space for a local nonprofit within the existing church building.
Resistance from neighbors
From the moment they were announced, First Presbyterian's plans have met resistance from a group of neighbors, now organized as Bethlehem for Unique Neighborhoods, who argue the project is not compatible with the neighborhood.
Ryan Dunn, the group’s leader, said an email list he maintains for the group has about 500 subscribers. A GoFundMe campaign supporting it has drawn nearly $16,000 in donations over the past month.
“This is not about opposition of affordable housing,” said Dunn. “It's about appropriate development.”
The planned development’s density, in particular, makes it too much for the area, especially considering the rural residential zoning that borders much of the church property, he said.
While he would prefer First Presbyterian stays as it is, he said, only detached single-family dwellings could work on the site.
As it is, the plan “is high density. It's a lot of traffic. It’s loss of open space. The housing type and stock is not keeping with the surrounding neighborhoods,” said Dunn. “Trying to solve the housing solution on one hand shouldn't harm something else on the other.”
Church officials dispute that the planned additions would stand out from the existing neighborhood, pointing to the more-densely-developed Kirkland Village senior living community along one side of the church and nearby medium density residential zones.
The site plan is similarly medium-density, said The Rev. Lindsey Altvater Clifton, associate pastor for justice and community impact at First Presbyterian.
“We feel like we've really worked hard to come up with something that is contextually appropriate,” she said. “We're trying to be conversation partners in good faith, no matter where people are. We're just aware that with some of those folks, we may not see a lot of movement.”
Many of the neighbors present at Thursday night's community meeting, however, support the project.
“We've looked at some of the documents and it will be wonderful in this community,” said Richard Master, who lives near the church. “From my understanding, the church needs to develop this property and I think they’re doing it responsibly and they're reaching out to the community to get their reaction.”
“I think it's important. We have a housing crisis, not just in Bethlehem but all over the United States,” said Kathy Fox, who lives nearby. “[The church] is actually probably going to be more beautiful now because it will have a lot more new trees, and we'll see people riding bikes and walking and pushing carriages.”
“It's really great that the city and organizations in the city are thinking creatively about solutions to the housing issue,” said Bethlehem resident Margot Hillman.
“If you go, I don’t know, a half mile or something in any direction, It's a huge variety of zoning And so that means if you live in one direction, you feel like this is what the whole area is,” she said. “And I get that people don't like change. I think the concerns about traffic are real; I think those are solvable.”
“In my opinion, this is the right thing for the people that need it. And, you know, I'm really amazed at the people that are grumbling against it,” said city resident Susan Master. “I want to know before I make a final decision, but that’s the way I feel: we have to help others.”
