The new edition of the Lehigh Valley Commercial Real Estate Report highlights recent activity in the marketplace and explains how Lehigh Valley is primed to benefit from Pennsylvania’s new site preparation program.
The cover article, “PA’s Economic Strategy is ‘Betting Heavy’ on Lehigh Valley,” highlights the PA SITES program by Gov. Josh Shapiro’s administration. The program will invest $400 million to make properties shovel-ready for development, accelerating economic growth and making Pennsylvania more competitive with neighboring states. 
“They’re turning this pile of dirt into jobs,” Shapiro said in May at a property in Allentown that received the program’s first grant. “This is a big win for Allentown. This is a big win for the Lehigh Valley. And it is a big win for the Commonwealth, because we’re betting heavy on this region to drive economic growth in the future.”
PA SITES provides planning and construction grants to municipalities, economic development organizations, redevelopment authorities, municipal authorities, industrial development agencies, and for-profit organizations. Those grants can pay for utilities, infrastructure, and other improvements to prepare sites for easier and speedier development.
Published each quarter by Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (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 newest edition covers data from the second quarter of 2024.
The digital version of the new issue can be downloaded here, and hard copies are available upon request.
The second quarter report shares information about the $241 million in development occurring in downtown Easton, and the new Da Vinci Science Center that opened in Allentown and is an asset for workforce development through its STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) educational programs.
The key activity occurring in the Lehigh Valley commercial real estate marketplace highlighted in the report includes:
- The sale of the original manufacturing location of Crayola in Northampton County, to a developer who plans more than 100 apartments. Crayola now manufactures crayons and other art and creative play items at another location in the Lehigh Valley. It retains a research and development operation at the original site.
- The lease of a 470,000-square-foot building in Lower Nazareth Township by logistics leader Carbel.
- The lease of a 130,000-square-foot building Upper Macungie Township by Bazzini, which produces nut, fruit, and chocolate confections and is the oldest nut company in the United States.