What Goes in the Former Hard Bean Cafe?
Tell us in the comments what should go in this vacant storefront on Third Street.
The former Hard Bean Café at 201 E. Third St. has been vacant for about a year.
The storefront space at the northeast corner of Third and Webster streets, is cattycorner from the William Elek Plumbing Building we profiled a few weeks back.
We will assume that statistics provided by the city’s Department of Community and Economic Development about the Elek building are the same here: That means 25,000 residents, 9,326 households, 1,128 daytime employees and an annual 2010 consumer spending of $233,181,000 within a mile of this storefront, which, once again, is in the heart of the city’s burgeoning SouthSide arts and entertainment district.
In its Internet listing, the Dietrick Group LLC is describing the space available as having 2,754 square feet; one story, with a loft, hardwood floors and space for outdoor seating with a city permit. Dietrick is asking for $12.50 per square foot a year in rent.
There is on-street parking along Third Street and a small municipal parking lot on the other side of Webster Street.
What goes here, Bethlehem? Tell us in the comments.
Jon Geeting
7:54 am on Wednesday, April 18, 2012
That's a building that should really just be knocked down and replaced with something better. Southside Bethlehem could fit way more than 25,000 residents nearby, and the reason it does is that there are too many short one- and two-story buildings like this one. They should remove the red tape of the Historic Conservation District, and make it easier to replace old 1-2 story buildings. It's fine to preserve a handful of historically-significant buildings, but restricting demolition all through the Southside CBD is crazy.
Daryl Nerl
2:55 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
And allowing demolition across the SouthSide would threaten to turn the neighborhood into Center City Allentown. A vast wasteland with unnecessary parking lots everywhere. No thanks.