Guest gather look on as the final beam is raised and placed atop the Commodore on July 27, 2022. Before the beam was raised, everyone in attendance was able to sign the beam during the topping ceremony. Saed Hindash | For lehighvalleylive.com

Nearly 50 city officials and nearby business owners attended a topping off ceremony Wednesday for the seven-story structure called The Commodore.

The event was hosted by Optima Durant CEO Garett Vassel. The public was able to witness placement of the building’s last purlin, a steel beam used to support a roof structure. The event celebrated the completion of the building’s steel frame and a day that seemed at times would never arrive, according Vassel and others who worked on the project.

“This is a significant moment for everyone,” Pamela Webb, marketing director for H.C. Pody Company, a general contracting company for the project, said.

She said a light will highlight the final, white purlin featuring an American flag throughout the evening to signify the magnitude of the achievement. Contemporary small-scale construction rarely uses steel anymore, she said.

Optima Durant is building a seven-story high rise with 32 apartments, a rooftop restaurant, a co-working office space and two retail spaces. It will be the city’s gateway from New Jersey across the free bridge over the Delaware River into Pennsylvania.

MORE: Zest, Grille 3501 owners will bring rooftop restaurant to Easton’s The Commodore

See The Commodore be topped off in the gallery below:

Topping off The Commodore in Easton

Securing the steel for the building was the greatest hurdle, according to Vassel.

Steel prices skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic, at one point rising more than 250% above pre-pandemic levels. Rising costs even bankrupted the project’s initial subcontractor, which further delayed the construction on The Commodore, and placed immense financial stress on Vassel.

Vassel later teamed up with M.S.R and Son, a metal fabricator, and H.C. Pody General Contracting, he said.

“There’s been so many challenges on this project, even specifically with the steel, getting the steel and a bankruptcy related to the steel with one of our subcontractors,” he said. “There was a time when achieving this milestone was looking a little bit dark, but we never lost hope.”

Now that the frame is completed and the structure has been built to last, construction should move more smoothly, he said. Vassel said he could not confirm a completion date for the project. He cited ongoing delays to secure materials because of the pandemic as the reason.

Attendees of the topping off ceremony were able to sign their names to the building’s last purlin before it was bolted in place by M.R.S. and Son crews. M.R.S. and Son is based in Bucks County.

Billy Procida, CFO of Procida Funding and Advising, also spoke during the event. He congratulated the companies on their collaboration and the completion of the project.

“They started during a pandemic and the work they’ve done getting this topped off is nothing short of heroic,” he said.

Vassel also announced his company has signed a lease agreement with the owners of Zest bar+grille in Bethlehem and Grille 3501 in Allentown. Details of the coming restaurant’s design and menu are in the works, according to the owners, but they said patron’s can expect New American cuisine.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Glenn Epps can be reached at gepps@lehighvalleylive.com or glenn_epps_ on Twitter.

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 7/1/2022).

© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.