The Work
More than thirty consecutive projects. Here is what that looks like across a single downtown core.
Office and Commercial
Three City Center
Turnkey land development and civil engineering
The former site of the Vaudeville-era Colonial Theater became a seven-story mixed-use building with Class A office space, ground-floor retail, and underground parking. It served as the catalyst project for downtown Allentown's broader revival and now houses RETTEW's own Lehigh Valley office.
Services: land development, site engineering, stormwater management, surveying, highway occupancy permitting, sewer and water engineering
Tower 6
Land development and multi-service civil engineering
RETTEW delivered a 12-story, 145,000-SF Class A office building on a fast-track schedule for City Center Investment Corporation. RETTEW's agency relationships and regulatory experience produced a plan that moved through approvals with minimal comments.
Services: land development, surveying, geotechnical investigation, subsurface utility engineering, traffic control and signal permits, construction surveying
Five City Center and 8th and Walnut Street Garage
Land development, cultural resources permitting, and subsurface utility engineering
A 13-story office building and seven-story parking garage required navigating extremely old underground utilities and a Pennsylvania Historic Museum Commission permit to demolish a historic structure. RETTEW's in-house geophysics team accurately identified underground vaults, avoiding costly surprises during construction.
Services: surveying, Phase I ESA, land development, cultural resources permitting, subsurface utility engineering, highway occupancy permitting, transportation engineering
Maple Street Garage
Civil engineering for sustainable parking infrastructure
RETTEW replaced two outdated parking facilities with a single modern structure, designing a stormwater management system with an 18,175-SF green roof as the centerpiece of the drainage strategy. This project won the Apex Award for Sustainable Design from the International Parking and Mobility Institute.
Services: Phase I ESA, subsurface utility engineering, land development, stormwater management and NPDES permitting, surveying, construction services
Moxy Allentown Downtown
Lead civil and site engineer
RETTEW delivered this five-story, 134-room boutique hotel on an accelerated schedule within a tight downtown footprint, the thirtieth consecutive project in the downtown Allentown portfolio. The project required close coordination with City staff, PennDOT, and adjacent property owners to maintain pedestrian safety and traffic flow throughout construction.
Services: subsurface utility engineering, traffic signal plans, land development, stormwater management, erosion control, surveying, sewer planning
Residential and Mixed-Use
STRATA West
Site engineering and land development
STRATA West brought the first newly constructed market-rate residential component to the downtown Allentown revitalization effort, a half-block mixed-use development with two buildings, underground parking, ground-floor retail, and a pocket park built into the site design. This project won a Land Development Award from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.
Services: site engineering, land development, stormwater analysis and NPDES permitting, sewer and water engineering, traffic and transportation engineering, surveying
Strata Symphony
Land development and stormwater engineering
Strata Symphony packs luxury apartments onto just 0.56 acres, with a two-level parking garage below four floors of residential space. RETTEW engineered an efficient site design on a highly constrained historic urban footprint, with stormwater engineering that managed runoff within the tight site boundaries.
Services: surveying, land development, sewer planning, stormwater engineering
Cityplace North and South
Civil engineering for adaptive reuse and new construction
This former hotel and conference center became a 194-unit, twin-building apartment complex with ground-floor retail. RETTEW obtained municipal approvals to permit the existing building as an adaptive reuse property and designed a four-story addition that met NPDES stormwater requirements through green roofs and interior courtyard plantings integrated into the civil drainage design.
Services: subsurface utility engineering, concept development, land development, stormwater management, erosion control, sewer planning, utility coordination, surveying
The Nines at Cityplace
Full civil engineering services for urban infill residential
The Nines is a mixed-use building on a small, graded parcel where RETTEW maximized land use efficiency by stepping the floor plan to follow the site's grade. When a permitting agency's preliminary determination threatened to delay the project, RETTEW challenged it and won, cutting more than six months from the entitlement process.
Services: Phase I ESA, subsurface utility engineering, land development, stormwater management, NPDES permitting, sewer planning, utility coordination, surveying
The Hive Residences
Land development engineering for two-building urban apartment complex
On a site with two existing buildings, RETTEW designed the stormwater conveyance system, performed hydrological calculations for NPDES permitting, and secured sewer flow credits that produced substantial savings in sewer tapping fees. We also designed pedestrian bridges to connect both buildings to adjacent parking decks. This project won a Top Projects Award from Lehigh Valley Business.
Services: land development, stormwater management, NPDES permitting, sewer planning, traffic plans, utility coordination
Walnut View at Cityplace
Civil design and land development engineering
Walnut View at Cityplace replaced fifty years of surface parking with a five-story luxury apartment building. The building spans a vehicular tunnel that serves as the entrance to an adjacent parking garage and shares a common wall with that structure, conditions that demanded precise civil engineering on an unusually complex, constrained site.
Services: land development, sewer planning, stormwater and NPDES permitting, surveying
1010 Hamilton Apartments
Comprehensive civil engineering for urban infill residential
This project saw dilapidated commercial storefronts transition into a four-story apartment building after RETTEW conducted Phase I and II ESAs, managed pollution remediation, and designed a stormwater management system using courtyard planters and a custom level spreader structure to support the project's LEED certification goals. The project won a Top Projects Award from Lehigh Valley Business.
Services: Phase I and II ESA, infiltration testing, surveying, land development permitting, pollution remediation, NPDES permitting, stormwater management
Public Space, Transit, and Infrastructure
Allentown Transportation Center
Civil engineering for award-winning public transit plaza
LANTA, the Allentown Parking Authority, and the City of Allentown developed this 1.64-acre transit hub, which serves 3,000 daily passenger trips. RETTEW's civil engineering scope included stormwater management plans that addressed the site's drainage in the context of its origami-inspired bus shelter pavilion, reducing runoff by approximately 7,500 gallons. The project won the ULI Award for Excellence in the Open Space category.
Services: stormwater management, pavement design, accessible route design, landscaping and lighting coordination, utility coordination, land development, erosion control
Hamilton Streetscape Revitalization (12th to 9th Streets)
Design engineer for corridor streetscape improvements
RETTEW delivered ADA accessibility enhancements, traffic signal permit plans, and the rehabilitation of three bus stops. Our team also redesigned the traffic lane configuration to eliminate a known vehicle conflict point and analyzed roof drainage from 29 downspouts to design trench drains and sidewalk pipes. The project was a ULI Philadelphia Award finalist.
Services: traffic signal plans, accessible route design, landscaping and lighting coordination, land development, construction services, 3D scanning surveying
Hamilton Streetscape 800 Block (8th to Hamilton)
Third phase of corridor streetscape engineering
Building on two previous phases, RETTEW focused on ADA accessibility and integration with surrounding downtown developments, including a new science center, for which RETTEW designed a mid-block raised crosswalk and added conduit for a future rapid flashing beacon. The work created a continuous ADA pedestrian pathway through the entire project length and won the 2025 ULI Philadelphia Award for Excellence in Open Space.
Services: traffic signal plans, accessible route design, landscaping and lighting coordination, land development, construction services
ArtsWalk Pocket Park
Civil engineering, schematic design, and stormwater management
RETTEW transformed a steeply graded urban parking lot built over a stormwater BMP into an activated public green space with a flat lawn, decorative pavers, accessible routes, a small stage, architectural lighting, and infrastructure supporting an outdoor movie screen. Part of the ArtsWalk Phase II and III projects, it won an Outdoor Recreation Project Award from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.
Services: subsurface utility engineering, surveying, schematic design, stormwater management, erosion control, landscaping design, permitting, construction services
ArtsWalk Court Street
Complete reconstruction of an urban alley
RETTEW reconstructed a neglected alley within Allentown's Arts District with widened ADA-accessible sidewalks, LED lighting, streetscape improvements, an innovative asphalt-paver block overlay, ADA stairways for a historic orchestral hall, and a new pedestrian crosswalk with rapid rectangular flashing beacons. Part of the ArtsWalk Phase II and III projects, it won an Outdoor Recreation Project Award from the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.
Services: surveying, design, permitting, construction services
Hamilton Connector
Civil engineering redesign of downtown pedestrian plaza
RETTEW redesigned a two-level pedestrian pass-through that had existed since the early 2000s into an activated public space with large round podiums for sitting and spontaneous performances, four levels of amphitheater-style seating, high-end precast paver accessible routes, four-season landscaping, and catenary-style overhead lighting.
Services: surveying, design, permitting, construction services
Hall Street Dog Park
Civil engineering for public amenity spaces
Part of the broader downtown Allentown development effort, RETTEW provided civil engineering services for a public dog park that add green space and community amenities to the downtown core. Civil scope included site planning, grading, stormwater management, and coordination with the City of Allentown.
Services: site planning, grading and utility design, stormwater management, erosion control
520 Hamilton 3D Laser Scanning
Advanced surveying for urban demolition and construction
RETTEW captured millions of precise measurements of surrounding structures using 3D laser scanning before demolition and construction began on a new six-story mixed-use building, protecting the integrity of adjacent buildings. The same technology enabled a precise structural connection to an existing parking garage, with data collection completed in less than one day on site.
Services: 3D scanning and modeling, boundary surveying, topographic surveying