LOWER NAZARETH TOWNSHIP — First 33 Commerce Center, a new
two-building industrial complex in Lower Nazareth Township, has filled up
quickly.
Central Garden & Pet Co., a maker of products for the
lawn and garden and pet supplies markets, has signed a lease for a
243,360-square-foot facility at 3895 Eastgate Blvd., Gov. Tom Wolf announced
Thursday. The company will use the facility as a distribution center for its
garden products, an operation that was previously located in Taunton, Mass.
Central Garden & Pet expects to create 40 full-time
jobs there over the next three years.
Right next to Central Garden & Pet's new building is
a 341,400-square-foot warehouse that logistics giant UPS is leasing and will
use for seasonal capacity, UPS spokeswoman Susan Rosenberg said this week. The
facility will be used as a transit hub for UPS Ground packages that are moving
to other points, she said, and the company is outfitting it with conveyor systems
for hub processing.
Since UPS won't ramp up for seasonal hiring until
sometime in October, Rosenberg said it was premature to provide any seasonal
hiring estimates. She declined to disclose lease details.
"This hub is a part of property leases around the
country for similar operations that give us flexibility and help us manage the
spike of holiday volume," she said.
UPS and Central Garden & Pet signed two of the
largest industrial leases in the Lehigh Valley during the second quarter,
according to a quarterly commercial real estate report released earlier in the
week by the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp.
The report added further evidence to the strength of the
Lehigh Valley industrial real estate market. For example, the combined vacancy
rate for industrial space in the area was 7.2 percent. In addition, there is
more than 5 million square feet of industrial space under construction in the
area.
Just since 2014, about 10 million square feet of
industrial space — much of it built on speculation — has been delivered in the
region, the report states.
"In the world of industrial real estate, it's safe
to say that the Lehigh Valley is one of the top markets in the United
States," said Jarrett Witt, LVEDC director of business development.
"There is no lack of public and private capital interest to invest in
Lehigh Valley's industrial sector."
The report, of course, doesn't come as any surprise to
Lehigh Valley residents, who see more and more trucks on already congested
highways. Freight volume in the Lehigh Valley is expected to grow by 96 percent
to 80.2 million tons by 2040, according to the Lehigh Valley Planning
Commission.
And more companies continue to open warehouses or
fulfillment centers here, attracted by the area's quick access to highways and
population hubs like Philadelphia and New York City. Just since April, women's
online stylist company Stitch Fix has opened a 483,990-square-foot distribution
center in Lower Nazareth and Amazon has said it plans to open a
1.1-million-square-foot fulfillment center in Palmer Township.
And more leases were signed in the second quarter,
according to a report on the I-81 and I-78 corridor from commercial real estate
services firm Cushman & Wakefield.
The report shows logistics company California Cartage Co.
signed a lease for a 538,650-square-foot warehouse at 3051 Commerce Center
Blvd. in Bethlehem and FedEx inked a lease for a 400,000-square-foot warehouse
at 2929 Schoeneck Road in Lower Macungie Township.
For Central Garden & Pet, the company decided to
relocate the distribution center to Lower Nazareth because of the location's
proximity to its customers, said Will Reeves, Central Garden & Pet regional
vice president. The company also thinks the area will provide a "solid
pool for hiring," Reeves said.
Central Garden & Pet plans to invest at least
$835,000 on the project, which will include facility leasing, employee training
and the purchase of machinery, equipment and computer hardware and software.
The company received a funding proposal from the state
Department of Community and Economic Development that includes $80,000 in Job
Creation Tax Credits, a $80,000 Pennsylvania First Program grant, and $18,000
in WEDnetPA funding for employee training.
Based in Walnut Creek, Calif., Central Garden & Pet
has about 3,700 employees, mostly in North America.
Source: The
Morningcall.com
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