Project Overview

The Walnut Street Parking Garage replaces a 1976 parking deck on the north side of downtown Bethlehem. The old deck had outlived its service life and no longer met the needs of a growing downtown. The new 137,100-sf structure provides 517 spaces, including dedicated residential and accessible parking, and includes ground-level retail space leased to local businesses. The site is within the Downtown Bethlehem Historic District and directly abuts an established residential neighborhood, so the design was reviewed by the City’s Historic Architectural Review Board (HARB). The exterior was designed to read as part of the surrounding streetscape rather than as a conventional parking structure. The garage opened in November 2025.

Precast Solution

High Concrete Group delivered a total precast system that is both the structure and the finished exterior. Long-span double tees bear on load-bearing wall panels, which gives an efficient parking layout with long clear spans and no separate cladding system.

The facade is articulated as four distinct masses, each scaled to read as an individual building within the district’s historic fabric. Thin brick in three colors, cast integrally with the panels, distinguishes each mass. Textured architectural precast at the belt courses, opening surrounds, and arched bays interprets the masonry detailing of the neighborhood. Radiused elements and shaped soffits were cast in custom molds of CNC-cut foam and plywood, which kept profiles consistent across repetitive pieces without slowing production.

 

Awards 
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Project Team

Owner

Bethlehem Parking Authority

PCI-Certified Precast Producer

High Concrete Group

Architect / Engineer of Record

THA Consulting

General Contractor

The Whiting-Turner Contracting Company

Thin Brick Manufacturer

Summitville

Key Project Attributes

  • Articulating the facade as four distinct masses allows a large parking structure to read at the scale of the surrounding historic buildings, a key consideration in the Historic Architectural Review Board’s review of the project.
  • Limited staging and access on a constrained urban site required precise planning of equipment, deliveries, and material placement.
  • With homes directly adjacent to the site, the team developed safety protocols and an erection approach that provided as little disturbance possible to the residents.
  • Just-in-time delivery and erection sequencing kept the project on schedule while keeping congestion off surrounding streets.

Project/Precast Scope

  • 4 Levels
  • 137,100 Total SF
  • 517 Parking Spaces 
  • 3,000 SF of Ground-Floor Retail
  • 454 Total Precast Pieces
  • Thin brick (three colors), multiple architectural precast finishes
  • Completion November 2025