Philadelphia firm buys downtown Bethlehem building for $4.5M

Brian Pedersen//June 28, 2018

Brian Pedersen//June 28, 2018//

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Northern Park LLC, a real estate investment firm in Philadelphia, bought The Farr’s Building at West Broad and New streets in downtown Bethlehem from Farr’s Development.

Dev Chanchani, president of Northern Park, said his company, Aspen Park Properties LLC, an investor partnership, bought the property as a way to reinvest in the Lehigh Valley. He does not plan any immediate changes.

“Plans are to make sure the tenants stay happy,” Chanchani said. He said he also plans to retain the local management company, Equinox Property Management.

Farr’s Development, the owners of the property, hired Allied Building Corp. to renovate the building and opened it in 2012 with 24 apartments. Merchants Bank, a commercial tenant on the ground floor, opened a branch in 2013.

Lisa Pektor, president of PennCap Properties, is part of the Farr’s Development investor group. The apartment portion of the property had a high occupancy since the units were completed in 2012, she said.

Though a deal to have Irish restaurant chain Molly Brannigans open a location in the vacant space on the property’s New Street side fell through several years ago, the buyer hopes to secure a tenant for that space.

“We are very focused on finding the right tenant for that space,” Chanchani said. “That space has been vacant for some time. I think it would be great for a professional firm. One that doesn’t necessarily need the parking that retail would need.”

Kevin Cain, managing director of KW Commercial of Bethlehem Township, represented the buyer in the transaction.

Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba of Upper Saucon Township was the attorney that represented the seller. ALT Realty of Bethlehem was the leasing representative at the property that achieved the high occupancy rate in the apartments, according to Pektor.

Chanchani was the founder and CEO of INetU, a technology company in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, that he sold in 2015.