Lower Macungie To Apply For $2.75 Million In Costco Project Grants

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lehigh County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lower Macungie commissioners have approved an agreement to apply for and sponsor $2.75 million worth of state grants that would help fund a planned Costco-anchored shopping center.

The board on Thursday night unanimously approved an agreement with the developers of the planned $140 million Hamilton Crossings shopping center to serve as the public applicant for grants from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

The money will be used for remediation and/or development of the property at the Route 222 bypass and Krocks Road if the project ultimately moves forward.  The developer plans to bring a Whole Foods and Target to the shopping center.

The developers — the Goldenberg Group of Montgomery County and Tim Harrison of Staten Island, N.Y. — hit a snag earlier this year when Lehigh County commissioners rejected a plan that would have allowed the project to benefit from tax increment financing, an arrangement under which tax revenues from the shopping center would be used to finance the project.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-lower-macungie-hamilton-crossings-grant-approve-20130815,0,808817.story#ixzz2cEyfeEUl
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Lehigh County Commissioners Kill Costco TIF

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lehigh County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Lehigh County commissioners on Wednesday night rejected tax financing for Hamilton Crossings, possibly closing the door to popular retailers Costco and Whole Foods in the Lehigh Valley.

Developers of the proposed $140 million Costco-anchored shopping center in Lower Macungie Township have said they will walk away without tax increment financing, which required support from the county, township and the East Penn School District.

County commissioners were considered the most significant hurdle to the TIF proposal, which would allow up to $7 million in tax dollars generated by the shopping center to be used to finance the work.

Commissioners shot down the TIF in a 6-3 vote that broke from their usual voting blocs and surprised many. Commissioners Tom Creighton, Percy Dougherty and David Jones voted in favor of the proposal; Commissioners Scott Ott, Lisa Scheller, Mike Schware, Brad Osborne, Vic Mazziotti and Dan McCarthy voted against it.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-lehigh-county-costco-tif-20130626,0,2078873.story#ixzz2XQao9y4y 
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