Wolf Building Sells for $1.9 Million

Easton's Governor Wolf Building, a former school that became Northampton County offices, has a new owner.

VM Development, the company behind the Pomeroy and Silk Mill projects in the city, will pay Northampton County $1.9 million for the building, county Executive John Stoffa said at a news confernece Wednesday.

The sale price includes the 55,000-square-foot N. Second Street building, the 3.3 acres it sits on, and its 183-space parking lot.

VM will in turn spend another $3 million to $3.5 million on renovations, possibly to turn the building into apartments with some commercial space.

Standing on the steps of the building, Stoffa and VM's Mark Mulligan outlined a timeline for the project, which will involve the county moving out by March 2014, renovations beginning in June 2014, followed by a year of construction.

Mulligan said the building would have to be "mostly gutted" on the inside, but would remain largely unchanged on the outside.

The county plans to move the human service agencies that operate in the building to Bethlehem Township. Stoffa said the county had initially hoped the Wolf building would house all of the human service offices.

"I think she failed us," he said.

Mulligan and Easton Mayor Sal Panto were more confident about the building's new life.

Mulligan spoke of his past success with the Pomeroy's building, which now houses apartments, a new Easton Hospital clinic, the restaurant Maxim's 22, and the burger chain Cheeburger Cheeburger.

But when work first started there, "A lot of the locals were like 'Those guys are going to lose their shirts," Mulligan said.

Panto said it was important to note that the project could bring people who have disposable income into downtown Easton without displacing those who don't.

"We still want to be a city. We still want to be an urban center," he said.

Northampton County Council still needs to approve the sale. A vote is scheduled for next month.

The county bought the Wolf Building in 1986. It began as a school named for the former Pennsylvania governor, and was also owned by the Easton Publishing Company, Panto said.