CRIZ in Bethlehem is spurring millions in development

A business incentive designed to develop new construction and transform vacant buildings into vibrant properties is starting to offer proof of its value to Bethlehem.

As the first-completed project to benefit from the City Revitalization and Improvement Zone, Social Still Micro-Distillery & Kitchen served as the spot on Tuesday for a sold-out event where guests could hear about the latest developments in the city’s tax incentive program. The CRIZ is a tax incentive program aimed at spurring economic development available in only two cities in the state: Bethlehem and Lancaster.

While bartenders poured cocktails in a revamped building filled with crowds of professionals, several speakers discussed the impact of the CRIZ and the additional projects, one nearing completion, and another starting construction, that will benefit from the tax incentives.

“It’s very important to pick the right tenants,” said Seth Tipton, associate attorney for Florio Perrucci Steinhardt & Fader, a law firm in Bethlehem. “They have to generate the most taxes in the smallest footprint because they will generate a lot of money for developers.”

Tipton said other states such as New Jersey are losing a lot of businesses to places that have incentives such as the CRIZ.

$35M MIXED-USE PROJECT

Next to Social Still are three underused parking lots that Peron Development LLC of Bethlehem will develop into Greenway Commons, a $35 million project of retail, office and 110 luxury residential units expected to start construction within the CRIZ this spring.

The movement of both younger and older people to cities shows there’s growth for urban redevelopment projects, said Robert de Beer, director of development for Peron Development.

“Lending requirements are still difficult for young people,” de Beer said.

But upscale apartments are growing in popularity, and now many of the amenities found in luxury houses, including granite countertops, are desired for these units.

He also sees the CRIZ as a one-of-a-kind incentive that encourages growth, particularly for the city.

“Bethlehem is friendly to developers,” de Beer said. “It has encouraged growth. There are plenty of infill and redevelopment opportunities. We just see a huge market for residential.”

The Greenway Commons project could become Bethlehem’s new “restaurant row” or even Lehigh Valley’s “restaurant row,” De Beer said.

IN THE SPIRIT

The Young Professionals Council of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce presented the program, “In Good Spirits: A Bethlehem CRIZ Update at the Social Still Micro-Distillery” inside one of the city’s newest restaurants.

“This is the first CRIZ project in the city, and we think it’s going to spur development along the Third Street Corridor and throughout Bethlehem,” said Asher Schiavone, Bethlehem’s Department of Community and Economic Development coordinator.

The purpose of the CRIZ is to address vacant, blighted properties in Bethlehem, Schiavone said.

One of these properties became Social Still, a new business that opened late last year in the former Gozstonyi Savings and Trust Bank near SteelStacks. The site’s last active tenant had been the National Museum of Industrial History.

RETAINING HISTORICAL FEATURES

The new space at 530 E. Third St. includes areas for production of micro-distilled spirits, a restaurant, private dining rooms and balconies, a bar and retail space for wine purchases.

The building is leased by Elaine Pivinski and her son, Adam Flatt, owners of Social Still LLC, who together produce, bottle and sell craft spirits, all on site.

BethWorks Now, part of Peron Development, bought the building and wanted to restore the structure as an adaptive reuse project that retained the historic features of the site. Boyle Construction of South Whitehall Township served as the construction manager, and MKSD Architects of South Whitehall Township as the architectural firm.

“We are proud to be the first distillery in Bethlehem,” Flatt said. “We have whiskey, we have bourbon coming, and we have rum on the way. You are going to see the distillery running every day here.”

PATHWAY THROUGH BETHLEHEM STEEL

Sean Boyle and Ken Duerholz from Boyle Construction discussed the progress of the Hoover Mason Trestle, an elevated pedestrian walkway the company is redeveloping across the street at SteelStacks.

The $10.1 million project should finish and be open to the public by the summer.

The half-mile former train trestle will link pedestrians from the Visitors Center to the entrance of the Sands Casino Resort and Hotel. The project would serve as a spine that connects all of the future retail components for this property in the city’s Master Plan, Duerholz said.

Source: LVB.com