While construction appears imminent on a $335 million
FedEx Ground mega-hub on about 260 acres off Willowbrook Road in Allen
Township, additional industrial activity could be around the bend.
The Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority agreed on
Tuesday to sell an additional 234 acres of airport land to The Rockefeller
Group, the New York City developers of the FedEx project. The land includes
portions of vacant properties in Allen and East Allen townships, north of
Lehigh Valley International Airport.
The authority could get a minimum of $6.9 million for the
234 acres, according to Charles Everett, executive director of the airport
authority, which operates three airports in the Valley.
The authority has had a master agreement with Rockefeller
since 2012-13.
Representatives from The Rockefeller Group did not
immediately return requests for comment.
Rockefeller is paying for road improvements to
accommodate the FedEx facility, including the widening of Airport Road,
Willowbrook Road and Race Street. Road improvements will probably not begin
until June 1, Everett added.
“We will be communicating with the public as to what to
expect during the construction,” Everett said.
The additional 234 acres to be sold to Rockefeller
include 155 acres in East Allen Township worth about $25,000 per acre ($3.875
million) and two parcels in Allen Township, one at 22 acres and another at 57
acres, both worth about $38,000 per acre – or $3.02 million for the latter two
tracts.
“However, the agreement stipulates that Rockefeller will
purchase all of these properties at fair market value,” Everett said.
Since market conditions have changed over the past
several years, he expects the prices on those properties will be higher.
“These are the minimum amounts they will pay for the
parcels, but those prices will be adjusted at the completion of the
appraisals,” Everett said.
The appraisals will be completed by the airport
authority’s appraiser prior to the sale.
“There is less inventory of available land, so we are
expecting those prices would go up slightly,” Everett said. “According to the
purchase sale agreement, Rockefeller is committed to paying fair market price.”
Once the sale is finalized, the money will help the
airport tackle capital improvements it had to defer in order to pay off a
judgment dating to the 1990s. The airport authority made its final payment in
January.
“Our goal is to be financially sustainable into the
future, and this will help address capital improvements,” Everett said.
Source: LVB
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