Juan Carlos and Cara Paredes recently purchased 451 Main Street in Bethlehem where they have operated The Flying Egg restaurant since November 2017. Jeff Barber of Lehigh Financial Group LLC in Allentown helped the couple secure a conventional loan for the acquisition of the three-story building which also has two apartments. The loan closed March 16.

The couple had discussed eventually owning the building when they opened the restaurant in 2017. When the opportunity became available through Lucy Lennon of Morganelli Properties in Hellertown to acquire real estate, they decided to go for it even though it wasn’t a good year to be in the restaurant business, Juan Carlos said. “Jeff made the deal happen in the matter of a couple of weeks. This last part of the process was fulfilling and exciting because of Jeff and his associates,” he said.

The couple doesn’t plan any changes for the building but may extend operating hours for the restaurant into the evenings for spring/summer and holiday times. They plan to lease the two apartments, possibly as an Airbnb.

A native of Colombia, the Paredes also operate a number of restaurants in the 500 block of Main Street: Tapas on Main, home of authentic Spanish cuisine; Urbano Mexican Kitchen & Bar; and Peculiar Wine Bar & Bites.

The Paredes are excited about owning the “quality” building and continuing to be a big part of the downtown Historic Bethlehem restaurant scene.

The acquisition price was $1.1 million.

Contributed article