“More than 40 years ago, my dad, Mal Gross, Paul McGinley, Don LaBarre and Jackson Eaton decided to purchase an 85-year-old former factory and convert it to a modern office building,” said Gross McGinley, LLP Managing Partner Atty. John F. “Jack” Gross.

“That decision, which came with huge risk, is why we are here today,” said Gross about the law firm’s move to the center city Allentown building in 1986.

Also attending the May 6 ribbon-cutting ceremony to commemorate the law firm’s offices renovations at 33 S. Seventh St., Allentown, were Gross McGinley, LLP Founding Partner Atty. Paul McGinley, Gross McGinley, LLP Founding Partner Atty. J. Jackson Eaton, Lehigh County Executive Phil Armstrong and Allentown Mayor Matt Tuerk.

“We have grown to a 35-lawyer firm with four offices and nearly 90 people serving our community throughout the region,” Gross said. He thanked partners and employees for their working through nine months of construction to upgrade the building.

The law firm also has offices in Easton, Stroudsburg and Philadelphia.

“This building, constructed in 1900, has been a cornerstone of Allentown’s downtown for over a century. Initially a three-story structure, it later expanded to four stories, demonstrating its adaptability to changing needs,” stated a press release.

The building first housed Allentown Crockery Co., a store and warehouse. It was home to the city’s public library sometime in the early 1900s.

The Allentown Knitting Co. set up shop in portions of the first floor around 1912.

Meeting rooms in the structure served fraternal orders, including the Modern Woodmen of America and St. James Commandery of the Knights of Malta, and a choral organization, the Oratorio Society.

The Royal Wholesale Co., a household furniture business, occupied the space from the 1930s through the mid-1960s.

McGinley mentioned that the building, the former Crown Tower, was known as the “Quote Me” building during its use as a textile mill.

“The building is beautiful,” said Armstrong, who has his office in the Lehigh County Government Center, 17 S. Seventh St., Allentown.

“People are coming here because of who works here, because of the service that comes out of that. You care about what you do,” Armstrong said.

Information: https://www.grossmcginley.com/