After years of legal battles, the city of Bethlehem has a court order to allow it to oversee the clean up and redevelopment of the old Goodman Furniture building.
Northampton County Judge Anthony S. Beltrami in mid-January named Bethlehem the conservator of the crumbling building and adjacent vacant lot at 30-32 E. Third St. in South Bethlehem.
As conservator, the city will act as an owner, caring for the property and overseeing the selection of a court-approved developer, but it will not legally take ownership of the property.
Officials hope the designation ends years of legal wrangling between the city and Lehigh University professor Alvin Kanofsky, who has owned the property since 1986, and result in its eventual sale to a developer.
The city has a thick code violations file on the properties, which both have been deemed blighted. Kanofksy briefly operated a flea market out of the site but it has sat vacant for more than a decade. It hasn’t had electricity or water in years.
Beltrami sided with the city’s argument that Kanofsky has fought its orders to clean up the properties while making no real effort to repair it or sell it. He found the building poses a danger and risk to public safety.
Now, the city is seeking a developer proposal from anyone interested in rehabbing and redeveloping the former furniture building.
Proposals are due 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 2. And the city must submit its recommended developer to the courts by April 8, said Alicia Miller Karner, city director of economic development.
“We have a very, very, tight time frame to review the applications and proposals,” Karner said.
The courts will get to weigh in on the selection Cepbahis of the developer, who will eventually purchase the property.
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The building is located in a historic district and the South Side central business district, which means the first-floor will have to be used as commercial space but the upper two floors could be used for residences. It’s exterior will be subject to historic guidelines.
The city is open to an addition being built onto the back of the building on the vacant lot, Karner said.
“We are very committed to continuing the momentum of redeveloping and reinvesting in the property,” Karner said.
Interested developers must provide detailed plans about their ideas for revitalizing the site, including construction costs, financing and timeline.
And the developer must complete structural repair work estimated at about $263,000. The building’s mortar is crumbling, allowing water to infiltrate and its roof leaks extensively, which has caused parts of the interior to collapse.
Earlier this year, the city paid $137,000 to make repairs to the building’s stucco to prevent it from falling off and hurting anyone.
Salvaging the building is a top priority, Karner said.
“We’d need a resounding response from the private sector (that it was not possible) before we’d entertain anything other than a salvage,” she said.
The Bethlehem Redevelopment Authority voted in November to apply for a $500,000 gaming grant to create a revolving loan fund to fix up blighted properties and the old Goodman building would be the top priority. Money repaid from the loans would be reinvested into blight remediation projects.
The city has not heard any word on the grant but Karner said she hopes, if awarded, it helps incentivize redevelopment of the property.
Officials hope to move aggressively due to the building’s deterioration and exposure to the elements through the partial roof collapse. Karner would like to see some of the stabilization work completed in the next construction season.
Northampton County Senior Judge Leonard N. Zito fined Kanofsky about $30,700 for failing to maintain the Goodman building, where he once operated a flea market for a short time. The building has no electric or water service now.
Zito sentenced the former physics professor to serve five days in prison, but the sentence was postponed because Kanofsky appealed it.
Sara K. Satullo may be reached at ssatullo@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @sarasatullo and Facebook. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.
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