Florida-based real estate investment firm DLP Capital is transforming five floors of a 350,000-square-foot Class A office building in Allentown, Pa., to multifamily housing.
The property, the Dream Grand Plaza, is located at 835 Hamilton St. and sits in the city’s central business district. DLP, which has an office in Allentown, owns the eight-story building. Allentown-based Serfass Construction Co. has been selected as the contractor for the office-to-multifamily conversion, which will entail the construction of 118 market-rate units.
Floors two to six at the mixed-use Dream Grand Plaza will house the residences, with select units featuring two floors connected by spiral staircases. Amenities will include media rooms, a fitness center, package room and dog wash.
DLP Capital acquired the building through an auction process in December 2021 and held a grand opening for the office property in June 2022, according to The Valley Ledger. Office spaces were described as ranging in size from 5,000 to 33,600 square feet and the building offered open, full-floor and multi-tenant office floor plans at that time. The property, then known as Grand Plaza, featured a main plaza, energy-efficient workspaces, winter gardens and a vegetated roof, according to The Valley Ledger’s report.
Allentown, the third largest city in Pennsylvania, is located 60 miles from Philadelphia and has seen population growth and increased investment in recent years.
DLP housing deals
St. Augustine, Fla.-based DLP Capital, which has an office in Asheville, N.C., in addition to its Allentown outpost, has more than $4.5 billion of assets under management. The firm’s core focus is on investing in, developing and financing housing, including multifamily and single-family rental communities and related investments, including RV resorts.
In April, DLP Capital provided $23 million in bridge financing to Sunlight Resorts for the development of a manufactured housing community in Avon Park, Fla., that will feature 325 mobile homes spread across more than 76 acres. The developer expects the first home pads at Twin Lakes at Avon Park to be completed early next year.
DLP Capital began construction on the Cottages at St. Johns, a 194-unit duplex-style rental community in Palatka, Fla., last November. Construction is expected to finish at the end of 2024. That community will have a mix of single-story one, two- and three-bedroom homes with private patios and backyards. The company also expanded its presence in the Houston market in August 2022, when it purchased a newly built 350-unit multifamily community in La Porta, Texas, in a joint venture with Elevate Commercial Investment Group.
