Ranch House owner selling vacant restaurant in Upper Nazareth Township

FROM THE EXPRESS TIMES

A vacant property at East Lawn Road and Schoeneck Avenue that's been boarded up for at least seven years could be revitalized if a new buyer takes on the project.

Bruno Scipioni, owner of Bruno Scipioni's Italian Ristorante in Bethlehem Township, Pa., purchased the property in July 2004 with plans on demolishing the empty building and constructing a new Italian restaurant and four apartments. The building previously housed the Ranch House Bar & Grill.

Now, Scipioni has put the .56-acre Upper Nazareth Township property on the market for $490,000 in hopes of selling the building or leasing it to a tenant.

Scipioni received land development approval for a 60-seat, 3,200-square-foot restaurant with upper-floor apartments and a 70-space parking lot.

Scipioni attributed his decision to lease or sell the building to a tough economic climate, adding he doesn’t know how a new business venture would do at this current time.

“The economy is bad for me, not at my restaurant, but it's just bad all over,” he said. “I don’t see it picking up."

Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Scott Sylvainus said plan approval would transfer to a new owner until land development plans expire in July 2012. A new owner could apply for an extension, he said.
James Balliet, president of the real estate company handling the sale, said a new buyer likely would have to tear down the existing building in the face of high renovation costs.

“That building now is Swiss cheese,” he said. “It would cost more to renovate that building than put up a new structure.”

In recent months, angry residents pressed township supervisors to pressure Scipioni to move forward with the project. One resident said parts of the building came undone and wood panels flew onto his lawn during heavy winter storms. Another complained of cats taking up residence in the idle building and creating havoc in the neighborhood.

“I would love it to be torn down,” Schoeneck Avenue resident Maggie Messina said. “I hope somebody buys it and does something good with it.”

Joanne Messenlehner, who also lives on Schoeneck Avenue, said the property's sale would bring closure to a longstanding problem.

“I think it’s a good thing that it’s for sale,” she said. “Whoever buys it, I hope they really beautify the place.”

The next step for neighborhood residents is pushing state transportation officials to install a promised traffic signal at East Lawn Road and Schoeneck Avenue. Township officials expected the Nazareth Area School District to pay for the light after constructing the middle school across the street.

Plans were delayed in 2009 when district officials argued that widening East Lawn Road to add left-turn lanes doesn't improve the intersection's safety enough to justify the cost. State transportation officials reviewed and rejected the district's plans without the left-turn lanes.

Sylvainus said the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has yet to approve the signal.

PennDOT spokesman Ron Young said last week that the state mailed its plan review to the school district, which must now submit a final design for review and approval.