A massive mixed-use project in Upper Macungie Township looks
to provide a new, walkable community of townhouses, single-family homes,
apartments, health center, retail pads, restaurant sites and acres of open
space.
Though it’s still in the planning stages and in need of
township approvals, the Lehigh Hills project covers 300 acres, said David
Jaindl, owner of the land. Upon build-out in five to six years, the total
investment would be in the scores of millions of dollars.
“It’s going to be a nice community,” Jaindl said. “The
market still is tough for residential development but it’s getting better.”
The development, which includes an existing supermarket,
plus a potential bank, health center and several restaurants, will be one that
offers residents pedestrian access to daily goods and services.
“With those types of amenities at your doorstep, it’s always
helpful,” Jaindl said.
The Jaindl Land Co. of Orefield started planning for the
project about five years ago, which kicked off with the development of the Weis
supermarket along Route 100, Jaindl said.
Weis Markets Inc., a chain of supermarkets based in Sunbury,
opened a location in the Fogelsville section of the township in December 2012.
Next to the 65,800 square-foot- store is vacant space for a 40,000-square foot
medical office building, which will be a health center for Lehigh Valley Health
Network. The site is at the southwest corner of Nursery Street and Route 100.
By the end of this year, Jaindl will break ground on the
health center with Serfass Construction of North Whitehall Township building
the project, designed by MKSD Architects of South Whitehall Township.
Jaindl said the health center has preliminary approval from
the township planning board and should go before the township supervisors for
potential final approval at its July meeting.
If approved, Serfass could break ground on the project as
early as August, said David Serfass, president of Serfass Construction.
Services planned at the health center include laboratory
services through Health Network Labs, primary care, obstetrics, pediatrics,
ExpressCare, rehabilitation, X-ray and ultrasound, said Brian Downs, spokesman
for LVHN.
Serfass said the health center will meet all energy codes
and the company will look to include energy saving products from Lutron
Electronics, a Coopersburg manufacturer.
For about six months, Serfass will work on the shell of the
building and possibly complete the project in 10 months – in time for an early
summer opening in 2015. This project would cost about $6 million to build,
Serfass said.
The health center calls for 190 parking spaces in the front
and back of the building, he added.
“It’s going to be an attractive medical development because
there will also be apartments and townhouses in the back,” Serfass said. “It
will have more modern, full-length windows, an open air feel. It’s going to
have a lot of limestone.”
Serfass said the building demonstrates the Jaindls’
commitment to quality development.
The next phase of the project Jaindl is proposing includes
252 upscale apartments, which will be a community with its own recreational
facilities. Then, he plans to develop several commercial pad sites in front of
the health center.
Jaindl said he will sell the land planned for the apartments
in back of the health center to Kushner Real Estate Group, a real estate
development firm in Bridgewater, N.J., that is slated to build the apartments.
KRE also is developing Madison Farms, a mixed-use
development that would add 837 luxury residential units and 140,000 square feet
of retail space anchored by a new ShopRite supermarket near Route 33 in
Bethlehem Township, Northampton County.
Jaindl views this area of Lehigh County as a prime location
to build a new community of businesses and residents with 100 acres of mostly
wooded land dedicated as open space.
“We own the property, it’s a good area, it’s convenient,”
Jaindl said.
The open space will include a public walking path and park
with a wooded area and a stream running through it, blending fresh, burgeoning
development with open, green space. Jaindl said he would dedicate about 24
acres to the Boy Scouts for the organization’s activities.
Further down the line, the Lehigh Hills project would
include developing 221 single and multifamily upscale residential units, which
include 24 townhouses. These residential units include fee simple lots, which
are subdivided individual lots, Jaindl said.
The entire project should take five to six years to
complete, he said
Source: LVB.com
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