Developer of Luxury Apartment, Retail Complex on Cetronia Road Needs Land Rezoned

The New Jersey developer who wants to build a 450-unit luxury and retail apartment complex on Cetronia Road in South Whitehall will ask Upper Macungie officials to rezone some of the adjoining land so it can build a strip mall and grocery store.

Kushner Real Estate Group of Bridgewater, N.J., has proposed building the apartment complex next to St. Luke's West End Medical Center on Cetronia Road. The parcel known as the Bortz Farm is bordered by Route 309 and Schantz Road in Upper Macungie. 

In February, Patch wrote about KRE's plans to build the upscale four-story apartment complex of one- and two-bedroom apartments that a company official said would rent for $1,300 to $1,600.

The design includes a clubhouse, private road, 30,000 to 40,000 square feet of retail space that could house a grocery store, and two retail stores or restaurants.

Thomas Gough, KRE's director of construction and development, said previously the company was considering a high-end grocery store, such as Whole Foods. In August, he told the South Whitehall Planning Commission the company was considering a ShopRite. 

KRE will ask the Upper Macungie Planning Board and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission to rezone the land from its currently permitted light- industrial use to neighborhood commercial, according to Upper Macungie Solicitor Andrew Schantz. 

Upper Macungie Supervisor Sam Ashmar, who also sits on the Planning Commission, said he wanted input on whether the rezoning would stop at the planned parcels of land or extend out to Interstate 78.

Supervisors voted to send the matter back to the Planning Board for further review.