Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII (LVIP VII) is a 1000-acre brownfield at the site of the flagship plant of the former Bethlehem Steel Corporation in Bethlehem, Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
Successfully remediated and redeveloped with help of a loan from the State of Pennsylvania, it now offers shovel-ready land that has been prepared with infrastructure improvements (roads, electric, gas, water and fiber-optic cable) and provides immediate availability to parcels of various acreage for businesses ranging from office to hi-tech to commercial to heavy industrial.
Aerial photo of LVIP VII courtesy of LVIP.
That $10 million loan has now been repaid in full by the owner, Lehigh Valley Industrial Park Inc. State officials are citing it as an example of the importance of public investing in vacant brownfield sites as a strategy for economic growth.
On January 30, 2018, state and local officials joined economic development professionals gathered to celebrate the success of LVIP VII in at the headquarters of Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Inc.
It might be hard to believe the property was vacant and derelict just 10 years ago. It now houses over 20 businesses, and employs thousands of workers. Companies in residence include Spillman Farmer Architects, Curtiss-Wright, Wal-Mart, Crayola and Primark. Together, they occupy warehouses, manufacturing facilities, office spaces and distribution centers spread over hundreds of acres.
Hanover Engineering was retained by Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Inc. as their site engineer for the design and development of a 248-acre section of the industrial park, know as the Saucon Tract. It contains 28 lots, one water detention basin, and approximately 8700 linear feet of new roadway. The Saucon Tract is Phase I of the more than 1000-acre Bethlehem Commerce Center facility, which is one of the largest brownfield redevelopment projects in the United States.
In 1959, the founders of Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, inc. created a not-for-profit corporation whose purpose was to serve as a catalyst for economic growth within the Lehigh Valley by providing competitive, well-designed industrial parks that were attractive to a diverse group of industries, with an emphasis on job creation and enhancing the quality of life in the Lehigh Valley.
Fast forward 58 years to 2018 and LVIP now has a total of 485 businesses and 23,000 employees in seven parks across the Lehigh Valley, representing a broad spectrum of industries and services.
Featured photo courtesy of Hanover Engineering.