Real Estate Journal — Pennsylvania — March 16 - 29, 2018 — 11C
www.marejournal.com
M id A tlantic
P ennsylvania Harkins Builders served as construction manager for STRATA The revitalized downtown Allentown could be the Mid-Atlantic’s next hot housing market
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llentown, Pennsylva- nia, is a city on the rise. Dynamic and bustling,
it’s the fastest-growing city in Pennsylvania, thanks in large part to an innovative state law that created the Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ). The NIZ has reversed downtown Allentown’s decades-long de- cline and transformed the urban core into a sought-after destination for living, working and playing. In fact, Allentown was recently named one of “five cities with up-and-coming downtowns” by Fortune maga- zine, and the Downtown Al- lentown Revitalization District earned the prestigious Global Award for Excellence from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in 2017-2018. “Allentown’s comprehensive approach to urban develop- ment ensured that the long- term success of the project would not be compromised,” said ULI Global Awards Jury Chairman Wendy Rowden, president of 42nd Street De- velopment Corp. in New York City. The NIZ was created in 2009 as a tool to spur the revitalization of 128 acres in downtown Allentown and along the Lehigh River. New construction in the NIZ began with an 8,500-seat arena, PPL Center, which opened in 2014 as the home of the Lehigh Val- ley Phantoms, the professional minor-league hockey team af- filiated with the Philadelphia Flyers. Expanding from there, the special tax-incentivized zone has welcomed more than $600 million of investment, with the $400 million City Center Allentown mixed-use development leading the way. Launched in 2011 by City Center Investment Corp. (CCIC), City Center Allen- town currently includes more than 1.4 million s/f among four class A office towers, the 170-room Renaissance Al- lentown Hotel, 308 STRATA Flats apartments, 26 shops, restaurants and galleries, and an ArtsWalk. The development also contains green space, coworking space and more than 2,000 structured parking spaces. As the most active developer in downtown Allentown, CCIC has a long-term goal of creat- ing economic development that spurs sustainable com- munity development in the continued on page 20C
The lobby of STRATAWest, one of three upscale residential buildings City Center Investment Corp. has developed in downtown Allentown, Pa., since 2015. The first two buildings are fully leased while the third, which opened its first units in December 2017, is 76% leased. Together the buildings offer 308 market-rate units. Credit: City Center Investment Corp.
City Center Investment Corp. announced in February it will develop the Walnut Street Commons, a 61-unit residential building that will wrap around an existing parking structure in downtown Allentown, Pa. The project is the company’s first building outside of the city’s hugely successful Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ). Credit: Bernardon Architecture)
STRATA Apartments/Retail Allentown, PA CITY CENTER LEHIGH VALLEY Developer
HARKINS BUILDERS Construction Manager
BUI LDING EXCEPT IONAL
COMMERCIAL GOVERNMENT MULTIFAMILY
HARKINSBUILDERS.COM AN EMPLOYEE-OWNED COMPANY
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