Lehigh Valley Commercial Real Estate

Today, the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce hosted a Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Luncheon, which included some awards given by the Chamber and a CRE Outlook presented by NAI Summit. AEDC tweeted from the event (follow along at #commRE).

Three of the awards piqued our attention. Spillman Farmer Architects received an award for their design of the Sigal Museum, a former opera house in Easton converted to a historical museum. St. Luke's Hospital Network received an award for their healthcare conversion of a retail site in a small, urban environment. Finally, Serfass Construction received recognition for their Oral Dynamics Cosmetic Dentistry project, part of which was financed from AEDC's Enterprise Zone Revolving Loan Fund. The projects were of note because they represented reuse of existing sites in urban environments, one with economic development financing assistance. The St. Luke's project is a harbinger of things to come, and underscores the importance of healthcare and educational institutions to continued investment in our urban areas. St. Luke's, Lehigh Valley Health Network, Sacred Heart Hospital and Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Network will all  have a significant impact on Allentown and the Lehigh Valley as they make decisions about providing healthcare to the citizens of the region.

NAI Summit's outlook confirmed much of what we have already seen in the Lehigh Valley and didn't do much to buck conventional wisdom. Industrial and office vacancy are on the decline, stabilizing or driving up rates in existing spaces as few speculative office or industrial sites are planned. With capital not yet returning to the region, speculative construction will remain on hold. There was a clear tension between the allure of brownfield sites like LVIP VII and the potential greenfield sites on the outskirts of the Lehigh Valley. We have a strong belief in brownfield reuse and would encourage developers to consider urban sites when planning future speculative construction. Allentown has a very attractive KOZ site on Hamilton Street in the Colonial Theatre Site that would work well for an office site given its proximity to other downtown businesses. There are also many opportunities in Allentown for revitalizing existing industrial sites for further industrial uses.