Politics & Government

Alpha Building Sells For $4 Million

Silk Mill/Pomeroy developer plans to turn building into office/residential space.

The developer behind Easton's Silk Mill and Pomeroy's projects has a new building on its plate: City Hall.

Mark Mulligan's Alpha Development will buy Easton's Alpha Building—home to the city government offices—for $4 million, Mayor Sal Panto announced Thursday.

The plan is to turn the first floor of the nine-story building into commercial space, have offices on the third, fourth and fifth floors, and 30 to 40 apartments on the upper floors.

All of this will happen in the next few years, during which time Mulligan's VM Development will also oversee the renovation of the Simon Silk Mill and Governor Wolf Building and the final stages of the Pomeroy project.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Mulligan didn't seem worried about being spread too thin.

"We're pretty confident in our ability to produce," he said, having noted that his company's interests were tied to Easton's at this point.

In fact, the city will be Alpha Development's tenant for 19 months, assuming City Council approves a lease agreement/agreement of sale at its meeting this week.

If the lease is approved, the city will rent the four floors of the building that it uses for $6 per square foot until it moves out into the new city hall planned for S. Third Street.

Easton has occupied the Alpha Building since 1996. In March, the mayor announced plans to move into a new $26 million intermodal center.

Part of that project should begin in the next few weeks, Panto said Thursday. Emmaus contractor Wilmer Schultz has submitted a $9.4 million bid to build a parking deck that will be part of the center.

As for the Alpha building, Mulligan said one of the first renovations will be improvements the building's lobby, including repairs to one of the elevators, and expanding into the former Crayola store space.


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