A Lehigh Valley company is hoping for permission to build more than 150 apartments on and around property where owners for decades made cheese in Upper Nazareth Township.
Tuskes Homes wants to turn approximately 8 acres, which includes the half-acre with the former Calandra’s Italian Cheese factory, into housing. Aspire Nazareth is a proposed five-building apartment complex with 154 units in the 300 block of East Lawn Road The property also borders Friedenstahl Avenue.
Tuskes officials did not respond to messages last week for comment.
The builder is seeking permission for the housing project on two fronts from the township, according to township officials.
Zoning Officer Angela Strohl recently determined that 154 apartments are not allowed on the site, but Tuskes officials have requested clarification on what dwelling density is allowed in the zoning district. That hearing is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. July 30 at the Upper Nazareth municipal building.
The zoning district, known as village mixed use, would accommodate medium-density clusters of low-impact, neighborhood-oriented residential and nonresidential land uses in rural communities, according to a statement Strohl provided. That could include single-family dwellings, professional offices and small institutional buildings.
East Lawn Road mostly has businesses that were built in the neighborhood commercial zone under the township’s former zoning ordinance, according to Strohl. Business and residential properties extend from the Nazareth border to Route 191, where the road continues.
Meanwhile, the township planning commission, which voted June 12 to recommend that Upper Nazareth supervisors deny a land application for the apartments because it was incomplete, is expected to hear again from Tuskes officials at its July 10 meeting, according to commission Chair Scott Sylvanius.
Calandra’s Italian Cheese factory, which was known for its homemade mozzarella, ricotta and other Italian cheeses, opened in 1949. It shut down in 2020, when the Calandra family owners announced their intention to retire.
The property is still listed as owned by the Calandras, according to Northampton County records, but at least one online real estate website says the building and land are off the market.
Sylvanius, who is also supervisor chair, said Tuskes officials have been before the township over the last several years regarding the Calandra’s property. This time, he said, they have presented plans for a development named Aspire Nazareth under the ownership of One More Properties LLC, which lists Tuskes’ Falmer Drive address in Bethlehem Township.
The names for the current project proposal, Sylvanius said, have led to confusion among neighbors.
Contact Morning Call reporter Anthony Salamone at asalamone@mcall.com.