Easton’s blighted Black Diamond site receives millions in tax credits and state funding to move forward with mixed-use development

A mixed-use development that would transform the long-vacant and blighted Stewart Silk Mill in Easton’s South Side into 27,000-square-feet of retail and affordable housing for workers got a significant push forward on Thursday with the award of $1.2 million in tax credits and $1 million in funding.The tax credits and money were both awarded through the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency.The $1 million will be used to demolish and clear the site at 620 Coal St., also known as Black Diamond Enterprises, said Lara Lara Schwager, vice president of development for PIRHL, or Partners in Residential Housing Leadership with offices in Cleveland, Chicago and Burlington, New Jersey.The tax credits will be used to fund the first phase of “The Mill at Easton” which calls for 55 affordable apartment units – or 11 one-bedroom, one-bath units; 30 two-bedroom, one-bath units; and 14, three-bedroom, two-bath units.The first phase will also include a 2,500-square-foot “club house” that was originally supposed to be in a separate building, but will now be included in the 55-unit apartment complex, Schwager said.The clubhouse will also include office space for the property and maintenance managers, as well as support services provided by the Easton Area Neighborhood Center, Schwager said. Those services will include “a health component” and financial literacy classes, she said.The local YMCA will also provide services for residents.Schwager expects construction to start early next year.The former Stewart Silk Mill, also known as the Black Diamond site, is one of the properties on Easton’s of blighted properties. (CHRISTINA TATU/THE MORNING CALL /)When the project was originally proposed in 2017, it called for up to 126 apartments and 10,780-square-feet of commercial space, which in the latest rendition has more than doubled to 27,000-square-feet. PIRHL is working with Tim Harrison, the Long Island developer behind Hamilton Crossings in Lower Macungie on the retail aspect of the project, which would be phased in later. Harrison said Thursday that developers are able to expand the retail space by doing two two floors instead of one. Up to 20,000-square-feet of that space will hopefully be occupied by an affordable food store. The rest of the space could house a medical office, restaurant and bank, he said. Harrison said the additional retail will have no effect on the number of apartments at the site, though Schwager said it’s not certain whether PIRHL will go up to 126 units. Mayor Sal Panto Jr. said the project will transform the South Side neighborhood that for at least two decades has lived with the blighted Stewart Silk Mill owned by John Robinson.The city battled with Robinson for years to clean up the site. In 2015 they ordered him to remove old tires, auto parts and scrap metal, including unregistered vehicles from the property.A fire there in 2016 destroyed even more of the property, a large portion of which is now a pile of rubble.Last year, The Mill at Easton was awarded a $1 million grant from the State Department of Community and Economic Development for environmental clean up at the property, Schwager said.Panto said the new mix of housing and retail will compliment other development projects underway on that same block. They include the new Cheston Elementary and Easton yards, a high-end 72-unit apartment complex at a former factory on Lincoln Street.“We are super excited about this project. We really feel this is such a transformative project for the South Side. This particular site has been stagnant for decades. I think it will change the feel of that whole area of the South Side,” Schwager said.The PHFA awards tax credits from the federal government to developers who turn the credits into construction funds by selling them to investors. In exchange, investors receive a ten-year tax credit, according to information provided by the agency.The tax credits allow the developer to lower the cost of the building, and therefore any mortgage required. Developers pass on the savings with lower rents, according to the PHFA.There were 39 projects that were awarded tax credits on Thursday. The Mill at Easton was the only project named in the Lehigh Valley.Receiving the tax credits is a very competitive process with only about 25 percent of proposals being funded each year, according to the PHFA.The $1 million came from the PHFA’s Pennsylvania Housing Affordability and Rehabilitation Enhancement Fund. Money in that fund comes from fees for natural gas drilling, realty transfer tax and from the federal National Housing Trust Fund.Christina Tatu can be reached at 610-820-6583 or ctatu@mcall.com
Source: Morningcall