Brinker Lofts Honored with 2020 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Award

Brinker Lofts was one of just 24 other projects to earn a distinction on the annual 2020 Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Award list.

Story by

Carina Sitkus

Preservation Pennsylvania has awarded Brinker Lofts with an exemplary rehabilitation project award for its “excellence and innovation in preservation practice,” one of just 24 other projects statewide to earn a distinction on the annual list.

Brinker Lofts, apartments that were completed in July of 2019, were converted from what was originally the five-story Lehigh Valley Cold Storage building built in 1893 and later used for university storage.

The project, completed by the developer Jefferson-Werner, LLC, aimed to preserve the integrity of the building’s historical roots while further enhancing the economic and quality of life development in South Bethlehem by providing high-quality residential space for the community, off-campus housing options for Lehigh faculty, staff, and graduate students, and commercial space for local businesses.

“We were so pleased to be able to partner with Jefferson-Werner, LLC, on this project and excited about the fact that it has been fully occupied since it opened. The transformation has been nothing short of extraordinary,” said Mark Ironside, Assistant Vice President of Business Services. “It was outstanding to see this kind of recognition follow our collective redevelopment efforts.”

The recognition highlights one way in which Lehigh University and the City of Bethlehem and other strategic partners have been joining together to help foster the South Side’s vibrancy.

Preservation Pennsylvania is the commonwealth’s only statewide, private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to the protection of historically and architecturally significant places.

Story by

Carina Sitkus