Home Care In Cherryville, PA

Decaying and choked by overgrowth, the 252-year-old Cherryville Inn has haunted Lehigh Township for years.

The structure, which dates to 1767, is considered an eyesore by nearby residents — a shadow of its heyday as a hotel and later an art studio and gift shop.

Sitting flush against the road, it’s also an impediment to township plans to widen the intersection of Route 248 and Blue Mountain Drive to alleviate traffic backups.

In a first step to get things moving, supervisors passed a resolution in December to begin eminent domain proceedings.

The move would allow the township to take ownership of a portion of the site, raze the structure and add a turning lane.

The turning lane would done in conjunction with widening improvements that are part of a long-in-the-works plan to build a new Turkey Hill at the southeast corner of the intersection. A Turkey Hill now stands at the southwest corner of the intersection.

The supervisors turned to eminent domain after owners Eric and Anne Bodish rejected an offer of $46,000 for the property based on a certified appraisal, plus $191 per month for access to do easement, township Solicitor David Backenstoe said.

The township only wants 13,000 square feet of the 3.2-acre parcel, which sits on the northwest corner, Backenstoe said. The Bodishes would still own the rest.

Eric Bodish, an emergency medical specialist, said he bought the property in 2002 with plans to turn it into an urgent care clinic. He said a personal matter prevented him from doing so.

He also said marshland and water runoff make the parcel difficult to develop.

The building with three dormers has a storied history.

Records indicate that it was built in 1767 but no documents of ownership or use are available prior to 1865 when Robert and Catherine Wentz are said to have left the property.

It then changed hands no less than six times.

In 1932, it was purchased by Harry Seidel as an inn/restaurant.

Seidel operated it under the name The Cherryville Hotel and and later as The Cherryville Inn until his death in 1958, said Ruth Kent of the Lehigh Township Historical Society.

His wife, Helen Seidel, owned the hotel until her death in 1973, after which their daughter Betty Seidel took over.

Betty Seidel had an art studio at the inn during the 1940s, painting Pennsylvania German-themed murals. She eventually became known for her hand-crafted items, including elaborately-decorated eggs.

“I was doing eggs when nobody else was doing them,” she was quoted as saying in a Morning Call story published in April 1998.

She began operating a gift shop at the inn in 1952, which she continued to run after her mother’s death.

The Bodishes purchased the land and building at auction for $275,000 after the 2001 death of Betty Seidel, according to Northampton County deed transfer records.

Cindy Miller, a township supervisor and planning commissioner, said residents have expressed their annoyance about the property to her ever since she became a supervisor in 2011.

Miller said the township has grant funding in-hand to help pay to widen the intersection at the Cherryville Inn corner.

She said the developers of the new Turkey Hill will widen the other three corners of the intersection.

Kevin Duffy is a freelance writer.

Jaindl Land Co. has been awarded $3.6 million in state grants for its plan to convert the former Mary Immaculate Center seminary property in Lehigh Township into a resort and spa.

Adam Jaindl presented the project, which has been in the works for years, to Northampton County Council on April 6. The application for Pennsylvania Redevelopment Assistance Capital (RACP) grants had the support of County Executive Lamont McClure and county council.

Adam Jaindl said Tuesday that the project was awarded the money.

McClure said Jaindl's plan preserves a 911 antenna at the site, a crucial link in the public safety network. He also said the project will provide jobs, boost the tax base and save green space, and "It's not a warehouse." McClure opposes "warehouse proliferation" and tax breaks that support it.

Jaindl Land Co. bought the former Roman Catholic seminary in 2016. Jaindl now owns about 600 acres at the site. The company proposes new construction along with renovation and preservation of existing buildings, including a chapel.

Adam Jaindl said at an April 6 council committee meeting that much of the land will remain open.

"The core focus of the development is really agrarian," he said, with farms, orchards and grapevines.

Of the 202 guest rooms planned for what is now called the Lehigh Valley Resort & Spa, many will be suites. A new building will hold 166 rooms, with another 36 in the seminary.

"Most of the development will be in one area around the seminary," Jaindl told the Community and Economic Development Committee. The seminary building covers about 130,000 square feet, he said, and new construction of about 150,000 square feet is planned.

Jaindl said about 200 jobs will be created at the resort, not counting construction and other jobs supported by the development but off the site. That will boost the regional economy and tax base, he said.

The resort will be a "world class" destination when it is completed, Jaindl said. It will offer meeting space, the chapel for weddings, multiple food and beverage outlets, and passive and active recreation.

Committee Chairwoman Tara Zrinski said the property is "bucolic," and she supported the plan. Northampton County Council approved two grant applications, one for $1.5 million and the other for $2.1 million.

"I appreciate the preservation of the land and farming it as well, and the preservation of the structure," she said of the Jaindl plan.

Commissioner Kevin Lott (council members are known as commissioners) asked that the company hire local contractors and workers, pointing out that the state grant is taxpayers' money.

In response to a question from Commissioner John Goffredo, Adam Jaindl said the company plans to keep the resort.

"We're not looking to build it and flip it," he said. Jaindl Land Co. will bring in a company to operate the hotel, he said.

The former seminary is at 300 Cherryville Road in Lehigh Township.

County Executive McClure said the Jaindl plan preserves a crucial 911 antenna at the site.

"First and foremost, public safety is my top concern," McClure said in an email statement. "The county network was designed to provide overlapping, supportive radio coverage from all tower sites. If any one site needed to be removed, it would have an obvious and deleterious impact on other sites. This would require a comprehensive redesign of the communications system, identification of alternative tower sites and investment in implementing such sites."

"Second, it's a good project," he said. "It's not a warehouse" and the Jaindl plan "makes it more than not that the land surrounding the resort that Jaindl Land Company owns will not be developed."

The county agreed to be the local sponsor of the grant, McClure said, and that does cost county taxpayers anything.

He summed up his support: "It's not a warehouse. Good-paying jobs will be created. A valuable historic cultural asset is preserved. It is less likely to cause the adjacent land to be developed, and it keeps the public safe."

RACP grants are for "the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects," according to the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program website.

Land developer David Jaindl announced in June 2015 that he would buy the shuttered Mary Immaculate Center in Northampton County.

Two years later, he unveiled plans for the Lehigh Township site, a former spiritual center that for decades educated men to become Roman Catholic priests.

Planning continues for the Lehigh Valley Resort & Spa wedding and events resort, but Jaindl and his son, Adam Jaindl, who is overseeing the project, declined to divulge much during an interview Feb. 4 at the company’s North Whitehall Township headquarters. Groundbreaking, they said, is scheduled for this year.

“We really want to make it the best destination resort in the Northeast,” Adam Jaindl said.

News about the resort comes amid David Jaindl’s foray into other hospitality businesses. He has purchased two golf courses, the former Iron Lakes facility in North Whitehall Township and the famed, private Moselem Springs club in Richmond Township, Berks County. The company recently opened a 205-room Hyatt hotel near the new Air Products headquarters in Upper Macungie Township.

The venue is “95% on design,” he said, with architectural and interior plans being finalized. The project entails renovating the Mary Immaculate seminary for prospective priests and the St. John Neumann convent. In addition, the Jaindls will build a nearly 150,000-square-foot expansion.

“It’s a farm-to-table concept, heavily focused on food, farm and well-being, community celebrations and family,” Adam Jaindl said of the venue.

Lehigh Township supervisors granted conditional approval in June 2019 for the resort and spa. Alice Rehrig, the township manager, said officials have not received any follow-up information.

In a 2019 letter to the township, the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission came out against the resort proposal, arguing it was inconsistent with the Valley-wide comprehensive plan due to the plan’s reliance on public water and sewer service. The commission is an advisory board and can only issue recommendations on projects.

The planning commission did find a township zoning amendment for a resort and residential district that includes the Jaindls’ property to be consistent with Valley-wide plans. Rehrig said the township added the section in 2020 to its zoning law.

Also, Bethlehem’s Daniel Roebuck — prolific character actor, director and screenwriter — filmed his third faith-based film, “The Hail Mary,” at Mary Immaculate. The film is the second produced by Roebuck’s production nonprofit, A Channel of Peace.

In an email, Roebuck credits the Jaindls with giving him access to write and film the movie at the former seminary.

Here is where the resort stands, based on the recent update from the Jaindls and previous reporting:

What’s planned? Two hundred and six rooms with multiple food and beverage outlets; a spa and wellness center; indoor and outdoor meeting and event space; and agricultural and recreational amenities.

When would it open? Two years after ground is broken, which is scheduled for this year, possibly in the fall.

What else will be on the site? In subsequent phases of the project, David Jaindl is proposing retail and residential uses on roughly 280 acres. The total development would be 400 acres, according to the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.

How much in public funding has gone into the project? Pennsylvania approved $3.6 million in separate funding rounds under the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capitol Program toward renovations.

What it was: The Mary Immaculate Center was built in 1939 and included a seminary to house Roman Catholic priests in training. By 1990, it was used as a spiritual center but later closed. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia bought the property in 1996 for $4 million and put it on the market in 2009. David Jaindl acquired it seven years later.

Morning Call journalist Anthony Salamone can be reached at [email protected].

Update: “The Hail Mary” is Daniel Roebuck’s third faith-based film, and second produced by his production nonprofit, A Channel of Peace. A previous version of this story had the wrong order of the film.

Listen to this article

Adoring couples, rather than aspiring priests, will make lifelong promises within the limestone walls of the Mary Immaculate Center in Lehigh Township should David Jaindl’s proposal become reality.

The developer unveiled the long-awaited plans for the roughly 280-acre site at 300 Cherryville Road during a Planning Commission meeting Monday night.

He announced Two Roads Hospitality, of Denver, as the operator of the venue, which he said will be transformed into an events resort.

Jaindl said a land development plan would come before the township during the first quarter of 2018, adding that the number of housing units would likely be fewer than the 509 originally proposed.

The original projection of 20 years to complete the project, he said, will likely be cut in half.

“In my career this is the most unique project that I’ve come across,” said Mark Hickey, executive vice president of acquisitions and development for Two Roads Hospitality, adding the monastery centerpiece and pastoral surroundings set it apart.

Two Roads manages hotels across the United States and around the globe, including The Beekman in New York City, the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel and numerous properties in Asia and the Middle East.

The 124,000-square-foot monastery will become a wedding venue and hotel with about 45 rooms.

A new, detached building outside the monastery will provide more room for guests, and the 900-square-foot convent will be converted into a spa.

The project is slated for phased development, Jaindl told planners, beginning with the hotel, spa and seminary.

The retail component planned around the seminary -– specialty shops with apartments above — would come later.

Homes — including single-family and multifamily units in the northern portion of the tract with an eventual expansion to the east — would make up the last phase, Jaindl said.

The entrance to the seminary off Cherryville Road would be abandoned in favor of a new one about 200 yards to the south to maximize spectacular sight lines leading to the south courtyard of the structure, Jaindl said.

The seminary represents “a great foundation to build this project around,” said Scott Lamont, a principal with EDSA, a land planning and architectural firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Melissa Voelker, vice president of HKS Inc., the Dallas architectural consultant for the project, echoed Jaindl’s pledge from when he first brought the concept to the township — the chapel portion of the seminary will remain unchanged.

“We’re not planning to do anything with this — we think it’s remarkable as it is,” she said.

The conversion of the seminary to a hotel — “the jewel on the crown of the hill,” as she called it — will be done in a way that preserves the ambiance of what was, she said, with the lower level of the building possibly converted to a restaurant.

A new “event barn” will be built along the entranceway for catering, Voelker said.

The entire property spans about 500 acres and stretches into neighboring Allen Township, but Jaindl said he only has plans to develop the Lehigh Township portion of the site.

Jaindl spent more than a year courting the township over the rezoning of the massive former seminary so he could redevelop the site. Discussions spanning several public meetings resulted in a zoning change to turn the agricultural/rural/residential zoning into a planned resort residential community designation.

The wedding venue would bring 300 new jobs and probably take eight to 10 years to complete, Jaindl said.

“It is such a beautiful building,” Jaindl said of the seminary. “We wanted to keep the structure as intact as we can.”

The monastery was built in 1939 to house Catholic priests in training. By 1990, it was no longer needed as such and was used as a spiritual center. It closed 19 years later.

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia bought the property in 1996 for $4 million and put it on the market. Hilltop Center LLC bought the site last August, according to property records.

Jaindl’s vision raised concerns from local and regional officials over the need for flexible zoning not common to the rural expanses of Northampton County’s upper reaches.

Chief among the concerns were traffic and a drastic change to the bucolic nature of the area.

But Jaindl’s promises to preserve the seminary were seen as an enormous benefit for the property, which officials worried would eventually fall into disrepair.

The township could do nothing to stop another developer from buying the site, Lehigh Township supervisors pointed out, razing the structure and seeking approvals for some other use on the property.

FROM MONASTERY TO MARRIAGE

The monastery: 124,000 square-foot wedding and events venue with 45 guest rooms inside existing structure. An additional detached building would include more room for guests.

The convent: 9,000 square-foot spa

Additions to site: Elsewhere on the site, in subsequent phases of the project, Jaindl is proposing commercial and residential uses on the roughly 280-acre property.

[email protected]

Twitter @Sarah_M_Wojcik

610-778-2283

Decaying and choked by overgrowth, the 252-year-old Cherryville Inn has haunted Lehigh Township for years.

The structure, which dates to 1767, is considered an eyesore by nearby residents — a shadow of its heyday as a hotel and later an art studio and gift shop.

Sitting flush against the road, it’s also an impediment to township plans to widen the intersection of Route 248 and Blue Mountain Drive to alleviate traffic backups.

In a first step to get things moving, supervisors passed a resolution in December to begin eminent domain proceedings.

The move would allow the township to take ownership of a portion of the site, raze the structure and add a turning lane.

The turning lane would done in conjunction with widening improvements that are part of a long-in-the-works plan to build a new Turkey Hill at the southeast corner of the intersection. A Turkey Hill now stands at the southwest corner of the intersection.

The supervisors turned to eminent domain after owners Eric and Anne Bodish rejected an offer of $46,000 for the property based on a certified appraisal, plus $191 per month for access to do easement, township Solicitor David Backenstoe said.

The township only wants 13,000 square feet of the 3.2-acre parcel, which sits on the northwest corner, Backenstoe said. The Bodishes would still own the rest.

Eric Bodish, an emergency medical specialist, said he bought the property in 2002 with plans to turn it into an urgent care clinic. He said a personal matter prevented him from doing so.

He also said marshland and water runoff make the parcel difficult to develop.

The building with three dormers has a storied history.

Records indicate that it was built in 1767 but no documents of ownership or use are available prior to 1865 when Robert and Catherine Wentz are said to have left the property.

It then changed hands no less than six times.

In 1932, it was purchased by Harry Seidel as an inn/restaurant.

Seidel operated it under the name The Cherryville Hotel and and later as The Cherryville Inn until his death in 1958, said Ruth Kent of the Lehigh Township Historical Society.

His wife, Helen Seidel, owned the hotel until her death in 1973, after which their daughter Betty Seidel took over.

Betty Seidel had an art studio at the inn during the 1940s, painting Pennsylvania German-themed murals. She eventually became known for her hand-crafted items, including elaborately-decorated eggs.

“I was doing eggs when nobody else was doing them,” she was quoted as saying in a Morning Call story published in April 1998.

She began operating a gift shop at the inn in 1952, which she continued to run after her mother’s death.

The Bodishes purchased the land and building at auction for $275,000 after the 2001 death of Betty Seidel, according to Northampton County deed transfer records.

Cindy Miller, a township supervisor and planning commissioner, said residents have expressed their annoyance about the property to her ever since she became a supervisor in 2011.

Miller said the township has grant funding in-hand to help pay to widen the intersection at the Cherryville Inn corner.

She said the developers of the new Turkey Hill will widen the other three corners of the intersection.

Kevin Duffy is a freelance writer.