Real estate professionals to celebrate top L.V. projects

Lehigh Valley commercial and industrial real estate professionals will be gathering in October to celebrate the best projects of the past year and to raise money for the families of babies impacted by medical challenges.

The Lehigh Valley Commercial & Industrial Real Estate Foundation will be holding its 30th annual awards breakfast Friday, Oct. 13 at 7 a.m. at ArtsQuest.

According to the foundation, this year’s awards will honor seven organizations that have made significant contributions to the community through real estate projects that create jobs and advance economic development in the Lehigh Valley.

Those projects include The Waterfront, The Mill, Easton Yards, and the LANTA Allentown Transportation Center, as well as expansions at Freshpet, Penn State Lehigh Valley, and Wind Creek Bethlehem.

Last year’s breakfast drew more than 450 people and raised more than $135,000, with profits supporting the Neonatal Intensive Care Units of St. Luke’s University Health Network and Lehigh Valley Health Network, where proceeds will again be sent this year.

“Our first event 30 years ago raised $17,000. In the years since, more and more people embraced the event, enjoying the opportunity to get together and do good,” said LV CIRE Foundation founding member Frank Smith. “No one would have thought we’d raise more than a $1 million in three decades, but people feel good about helping and making sure the funds raised stay in the Lehigh Valley.”

2023 Awards Include:

Office: The Waterfront is a 29-acre neighborhood of five luxury office towers, four apartment complexes, restaurants and retail promenades, two outdoor plazas, and a half-mile River Walk. A project of The Waterfront Development Company, The Waterfront will define Allentown’s up-and-coming River District and activate the area with thousands of employees, residents, and visitors.

Urban Renewal, Multi-family: The Mill at Easton project redeveloped 3.94 acres of the blighted former Stewart Silk Mill site to provide the neighborhood with three vital and needed

uses: affordable housing, a national, quality grocery store, and a full-service health clinic. Phase I welcomed 55 units of affordable housing, which are stabilized and fully occupied. Phase II, consisting of 26,208 square feet of commercial space, will be anchored by a Dollar General DG Marketplace and, hopefully, a Federally Qualified Health Care Clinic (FQHC). TCH Realty & Development will accept the award on behalf of the project.

Urban Renewal, Multi-Family: The Easton Yards project redeveloped a factory abandoned for more than 20 years at 457 W. Lincoln Street in Easton. ASR Holding LLC converted the building into 59 modern apartments with 12-foot ceilings and expansive natural light, along with a fitness center and lounge, making Easton Yards a successful adaptive reuse project.

Transportation: The redesigned LANTA Allentown Transportation Center is a 1.64-acre plaza that serves as the hub for LANTA, with 3,000 passenger trips daily. The plaza features a central bus shelter pavilion that allows riders to make bus transfers without leaving the platform. Its undulating green roof captures stormwater to offset the impermeable pavement below. The center was developed through a partnership among the Allentown Parking Authority, LANTA, and the City of Allentown, and was funded through the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement Zone Development Authority’s Public Improvement Investment Program.

Industrial: Freshpet’s $100 million renovation and expansion project required careful coordination with its existing operations. The project has temperature-controlled zones and production-driven design solutions, including a high-efficiency industrial ammonia refrigeration system, anti-microbial, skid-resistant floors, 900 tons of galvanized steel for corrosion protection, 33 highspeed dock doors, and pop-up ceilings to accommodate the scale of the equipment.

Higher Education: Penn State Lehigh Valley’s 20,500-square-foot campus expansion features a full-service cafeteria, student programming spaces, and a new STEM wing, all of which invite students and visitors to take part in campus life. The cafeteria allows commuter students to stay on campus for a meal or to study, the STEM wing includes an organic chemistry lab with ample daylight, and the addition’s large windows reveal happenings inside and on campus.

Hospitality: Wind Creek Bethlehem’s $160 million expansion of its hotel and convention center doubled its number of hotel rooms and created the largest convention and entertainment venue in Northeastern Pennsylvania.