The former Day-Timer building in East Texas, a village of
Lower Macungie Township, soon will be home to Smooth-On Inc., a liquid rubber
and plastic manufacturer that will add 200 employees to the site later this
year.
The move signals a potential transformation not just of an
abandoned facility but an entire corridor as the company plans to bring fresh
business and residential opportunities.
At a Commercial Real Estate Women Lehigh Valley chapter
event Thursday at the former Day-Timer building, representatives from Smooth-On
and Lower Macungie Township shared details about the potential future of the
township’s growth and the construction project underway.
Smooth-On’s construction and renovation project is expected
to connect the township’s goal of expanding the “community feel” of the East
Texas corridor, which includes the intersection of Brookside Road and Lower
Macungie Road and extends to the intersection with East Texas Road, Willow Lane
and Lower Macungie Road.
In March, Smooth-On bought three parcels of the former
Day-Timer site at 5501, 5690 and 5670 Lower Macungie Road for $3.5 million each,
according to Lehigh County assessment records.
Smooth-On, which has been in Williams Township near the
border with Southside Easton off Interstate 78 since 1997, will move operations
to Lower Macungie Road and be operational by the end of the year, according to
Trey Bianco, president of Smooth-On Inc.
Smooth-On creates rubbers, plastics, foams and other
products used for special effects in films, architectural restorations,
amusement parks, sculptures and other uses. The company produces the materials
and sells the products to the artists who do the creative work.
“We go on site, all over the world, to help our customers
use the products,” Bianco said. “We sell thousands of products; we are fully
diversified.”
The company plans to build new and renovate existing nearby
residential properties for employees, in addition to building retail/commercial
facilities that would enhance the corridor, extending the company’s connection
to the community. Since April, the company has been doing demolition, in addition
to renovation and new construction. The project was designed internally.
The facility includes multiple buildings that will be used
for manufacturing, offices, warehousing, a retail store and shipping, Bianco
said.
Reynolds Advanced Materials, Smooth-On’s retail store, will
build a space in the former Day-Timer building for customers to buy products. A
seminar room will be added to train customers from all over the world.
AREA OF SIGNIFICANT
GROWTH
The company will relocate to a community that according to
officials is the fastest growing community in Pennsylvania since 2000.
“We have had tremendous growth and tremendous change,” said
Sara Pandl, director of planning and commercial development for Lower Macungie
Township.
Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. had been heavily
marketing this site, and a number of businesses came through that were
interested, Pandl said.
The building has been vacant since November.
The site comes with an existing warehouse, and many
companies thought it wouldn’t work for their needs and was too costly to tear
down, according to Pandl.
However, the warehouse storage system would fit perfectly
for Smooth-On’s needs and offers room for growth, according to Bianco.
LABOR POOL
Employment is a challenge at its existing site in Williams
Township and one of the reasons it decided upon relocating in Lower Macungie.
“What drew me to this area was the labor pool … the
opportunity to hire a higher quality co-worker,” Bianco said.
Bianco said the company outgrew its space and was looking
for a larger facility it can grow into.
The former Day-Timer site will serve as a
360,000-square-foot facility for Smooth-On on a 30-acre parcel. A 20-acre
parking lot, essentially a vacant industrial site, is up for grabs, though
Bianco said he does not want to sell it. He would like to create a
commercial/retail and/or residential component that would enhance the
community.
“This project is going to be changing over the next decade,”
Bianco said. “We are struggling to find out what that vision will be. This is a
clean palate; we are looking for that spark of imagination.”
BRIGHT ENVIRONMENT
At the Day-Timer site, Smooth-On will dedicate one
35,000-square-foot area for production, with colorful beams, mixing tanks and
other highlights to bring a lively, creative atmosphere to the production
floor.
“We want it to be a nice, bright environment,” Bianco said.
With 55,000 square feet of office space on the fourth floor,
the company is looking to add windows and skylights to add natural light. The
office area will include glass conference rooms and light-emitting diode
lighting throughout.
In another building, the company will construct a locker
room for employees.
Smooth-On’s goal is to have every production employee
earning $100,000, while some at the existing site already do, Bianco said. A
nurse practitioner will also be on site, Bianco added.
HOUSING FOR EMPLOYEES
One way the company would like to extend its connection to
the community is by acquiring existing housing near the new facility, similar
to what it has already done at the Williams Township site to enable employees
to walk to work. The rent is paid for out of the employee’s paycheck, Bianco
said.
“We’ve never built any but we are intrigued by building our
own new housing,” he said.
He would like to possibly develop portions of a parking area
near the new facility into twin houses for employees.
OTHER AMENITIES
Other proposed improvements include updating the façade of
the office building, adding a new retail space and adding and improving
sidewalks around the facility.
Possibilities include adding a Retro Fitness and/or a Jamba
Juice. However, Bianco said it is difficult to determine the right type of gym
model that would fit with Smooth-On’s new facility.
He suggested adding a CVS pharmacy at the intersection of
Brookdale Road and Lower Macungie Road.
During the presentation, Bianco emphasized the need to have
input from the audience, which included many professionals in engineering,
architecture, banking, construction and commercial real estate.
The company, founded in 1895, had Bethlehem Steel as its
first customer and now earns about $10 million to $20 million in revenue.
Source: LVB.com
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