The Lehigh Valley office market is bucking national trends, showing resiliency amid changes in work patterns stemming from the pandemic, according to data presented at a recent summit of commercial real estate brokers.
“Lehigh Valley is actually doing incredibly well. If anything, office availability has actually shrunk,” said Brenda Nguyen, Associate Director of Market Analytics for CoStar Group, one of the presenters at the Office and Industrial Property Summit of the Philadelphia chapter of the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors®, held at ArtsQuest Center in Bethlehem on Sept. 23-24. 
“I know this area as of lately has been one of the fastest growing MSAs in the entire state, and it has a lot to do with industrial as well. A lot of folks are moving here for jobs, the local economy is growing, but I did think this was incredibly interesting, how Lehigh Valley seems to be going against the grain of what we've been really seeing nationwide and locally,” Nguyen told an audience of about 300.
Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. (LVEDC) was a sponsor for the SIOR event. The Lehigh Valley, with a growing and diverse $50 billion economy, was ranked as America’s No. 1 mid-sized market for economic development in 2023 for the number of new and announced projects.
Companies are drawn to the region because of its ample and skilled workforce and its location, within a day’s drive of one-third of U.S. consumers.
Nguyen presented data about the industrial and office markets in the Lehigh Valley, Philadelphia, and other eastern Pennsylvania regions. She said office availability in the Lehigh Valley is lower now than during peak demand about a dozen years ago.
The SIOR event also included two panel discussions.
“Weathering the Storm in a Distressed Office Market” was moderated by John Morrissey of Jackson Cross Partners, with panelists Michael Bernstein of Lincoln Property Co., and Richard O’Halloran of Dinsmore. Topics included the conversion of office space to housing, the availability of financing, and the changing nature of relationships with tenants.
“Keys to Success in a Competitive Industrial Market” was moderated by Dwight Hotchkiss of Lee & Associates of Eastern and Western Pennsylvania, with panelists Heath Abramsohn of Rockefeller Group, Chris Massey of Brennan Investment Group, and Michael Nelligan of Portman Industrial. Topics included how the availability of labor factors into development decisions, and the influence of AI and automation.
The Society of Industrial and Office Realtors® (SIOR) is the leading global professional office and industrial real estate association. It has 4,004 members in 50 countries and 725 cities.
SIOR conferences are designed to help members connect, build strong relationships, and facilitate business deals while enhancing their knowledge of the latest trends in industrial and office commercial real estate.