The latest edition of the Lehigh Valley Commercial Real Estate Report provides data about recent activity in the marketplace, including the announcement of the largest investment in the region’s history. 
The cover article, “Lehigh Valley Begins a New Era of Manufacturing,” highlights plans by Eli Lilly and Company to build a $3.5 billion pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Upper Macungie Township.
Announced in January, the company’s new injectable medicine and device facility will become Pennsylvania’s largest life sciences project, bringing 850 new jobs and positioning the region as a life sciences hub.
“Eli Lilly and Company is writing the first page of a new chapter – the era of life sciences – in the Lehigh Valley’s proud history of making things in America,” said Don Cunningham, President & CEO of Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC).
The report shares comments from Lilly Chair & CEO David Ricks about why the company chose the Lehigh Valley over more than 300 other regions that competed for the project: partnership, workforce, and speed.
It also shares insights from Lilly’s site selector, Jay Biggins of Biggins Lacy Shapiro & Co., about what it takes for a region to land a mega project like Lilly.
Published each quarter by LVEDC, the Lehigh Valley Commercial Real Estate Report provides a detailed overview of industrial and office market activity, notable real estate transactions, and population and labor force trends.
The report won a Gold Award from the International Economic Development Council, the largest economic development association in the world, in last year’s Excellence in Economic Development Awards program.
The newest edition covers data from the first quarter of 2026.
Industrial construction remained steady, while vacancy rates reached 9.3%. Smaller industrial buildings continued to see stronger demand, with vacancy rates at 4.8% for spaces under 100,000 square feet, compared to 10.9% for larger facilities. The vacancy rate for office space remained roughly consistent with previous quarters, at 7.7%.
The Commercial Real Estate Report highlights the Lehigh Valley being named the No. 1 mid-sized market in the U.S. for economic development by Site Selection magazine, for the second time in three years.
The digital version of the new issue can be downloaded here, and hard copies are available upon request.