Commercial owner-builder Bucknell Industrial is adding a
100,300-square-foot food-distribution center and warehouse in Tatamy to its
portfolio.
The pre-leased space will serve Mondelez International, a
multinational snack and confectionary company that was once part of Kraft Foods
Inc. The center will ship products such as Cadbury chocolates, Oreo cookies and
Nabisco snack crackers to regional grocers.
The warehouse, in the Chrin Commerce Centre at 120 Commerce
Lane, is expected to bring 150 jobs to the Northampton County borough of about
1,200 people. Combined with a new 730,000-square-foot warehouse in Champaign,
Ill., the Tatamy project brings Bucknell's industrial holdings to 101 properties
totaling 10 million square feet.
Anything coming in is going to be a bonus for Tatamy, said
borough secretary Deanne Werkheiser. The warehouse will be the first
light-industry project in the borough since the Equipta storage equipment
factory was rebuilt after it was destroyed by fire in the 1960s, she said.
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"It's income for the borough but it also means more
jobs. We are extremely small, so it's wonderful to have a Fortune 500 company
come in," she said.
No. 88 in the Fortune 500 ranking, Mondelez International
was formed when Kraft Foods Inc. split in 2012 into the publicly traded
American grocery business Kraft Food Group Inc. and the multinational snack
company.
Werkheiser said Mondelez was attracted to the location,
which is near its Bethlehem facility and will be served by a new Route 33
Interchange, allowing easy access to Route 22, Interstate 78 and Interstate 80.
Construction of the $27.4 million interchange between Routes
248 and 191 began in spring. It is being funded mainly through a tax-increment
finance district, whereby taxes from future commercial development would pay
back bonds used for construction. Closing on those bonds was Thursday.
"It's been a long process by a core group of committed
people to see this project come to fruition," said Northampton County
Economic Development Analyst Alicia Karner. "Northampton County, Easton
[Area] School District and Palmer Township directly contributed to creation of
the bonds, but the project is going to be a boon to the entire region and
neighboring school district."
While proponents of the TIF district had touted the creation
of 6,000 jobs and the leverage of $240 million in private funds, Karner said,
the Bucknell Industrial project, which is outside of that district, is a bonus.
Porsche Logistics LLC is currently the sole tenant.
"The line between Palmer and Tatamy runs right through the middle of the
Chrin Commerce Centre," Werkheiser said. Porsche is on the Palmer side and
within the TIF district.
Other projects in development include 425,000 square feet of
speculative warehouse space by Denver-based DCT Industrial, which won Palmer
Township approval in late September. Chicago-based Verus Partners also has an
option on land within the Chrin Commerce Center to create 2.5 million square
feet of commercial space within several buildings likely to be used for light
manufacturing or distribution, said Jarrett Witt, vice president of economic
development for the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.
"It's an attractive piece of ground in a great
location," Witt said. "The interchange is the final piece that opens
it up. Location is everything, and I think we are going to see a lot of
demand."
In June 2012, Palmer Township created the Route 33
Neighborhood Improvement District to protect taxpayers in case that projected
commercial development faltered. The improvement district ensures that Charles
Chrin, who had initially offered to fund the entire Route 33 interchange and is
contributing $6.6 million, would be responsible to pay back the bonds if the
project wasn't significantly developed and occupied within four years.
Source: Morning
Call
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