At a cost of $100 million, the next City Center project to
rise in downtown Allentown could be the biggest yet.
However, it’s not just cost, but sheer size that will add
scale and further solidify the efforts that City Center Investment Corp. is
hoping to achieve.
If approved, Five City Center, the proposed seven-story
office building, probably would be the largest project that City Center has
built so far, said Sy Traub, chairman of the Allentown Neighborhood Improvement
Zone Development Authority. The building would be 250,000 square feet, plus
parking for more than 1,000 spaces to accommodate that site, Traub said.
The proposed site is on the block of Walnut and Seventh and
Eighth streets in the lot of the Wells Fargo building. With close proximity to
the PPL Center, which includes an arena, office building and hotel under
construction, the project has the potential to anchor several major
developments.
“It will essentially solidify the entire arena block,” Traub
said. “You will now have the government building [Lehigh County Government
Center] on one side, the Wells Fargo Bank on the other side and that entire
block will be completely filled with very viable office employment.”
Traub said the project also will solidify Four City Center
on Linden and Hamilton streets, which is a proposed project that includes
retail and residential units in two multistory buildings.
Wednesday, ANIZDA gave the project conditional approval.
While the approval helps the project move forward and allows
for City Center CEO J.B. Reilly to seek a tenant or tenants, he still needs
city planning and zoning board approvals, Traub added.
“As part of the process, we have to give him approval, just
that it is an acceptable use for that building,” Traub said.
Previously, ANIZDA approved the increase of $50 million of a
revolving loan for City Center developer J.B. Reilly, in order to facilitate
the construction of this building and other buildings, Traub said.
ANIZDA originally approved a $135 million revolving loan
fund for City Center for the construction of various buildings. Traub said, in
order to speed up the process and expand capacity, that amount was increased by
$50 million since that money was used up in previous City Center building
projects. With this amount of a loan, plus tax incentives, developers can
support larger buildings, Traub added.
“Before we start talking to tenants or working on
architectural design, we want to make sure it’s a project ANIZDA would
approve,” Reilly said.
A few years ago, the state approved legislation for the
Neighborhood Improvement Zone, which offered tax incentives for economic
development on designated parcels in Allentown, helping incentivize projects
such as City Center Lehigh Valley, which are in the NIZ.
“That’s really been the power of the NIZ,” Traub said. “We
believe that this is going to be the model for redevelopment of cities like
Allentown across the country. In three years, what we’ve done is astonishing.”
Depending on the type of company or companies that move in,
employee salaries could be in the $60,000 to $70,000 range, he added.
“The state employment taxes can be in the millions annually,
so you can support more debt,” Traub said. “You can use the NIZ to support
businesses.”
While the site is on Walnut Street, the entrance to the
building will be fewer than 200 feet from Center Square, Reilly said.
“As the whole transformation of Allentown is starting to
become known throughout the area, we thought we could attract companies
throughout the area,” Reilly said. “We like technology, financial services,
health care, industries that are growing.”
Reilly said City Center would work with North Star
Construction Management of Upper Macungie Township to build the project. North
Star also built Two City Center and is working on several other projects for
the company.
The project would be demand-driven and not built on spec, he
added.
He plans to start construction in the latter part of next
year and said construction could take about 18 months.
Source: LVB.com
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