Costco, Whole Foods Shopping Center Groundbreaking Set For This Week In Lower Macungie Township

A Whole Foods executive is slated to join Hamilton Crossings developers and local officials this week for the shopping center’s groundbreaking ceremony.

Whole Foods Market Executive Coordinator David Pinkney will be on hand for the Thursday afternoon event to be held at the future site of his company’s first Lehigh Valley store, developers announced Monday.

Representatives from The Goldenberg Group, of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and TCH Development, of Staten Island, New York; state Rep. Ryan Mackenzie; a representative from state Sen. Pat Browne’s office; Lehigh County Executive Tom Muller; Lower Macungie Township Board of Commissioners President Ryan Conrad and Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. President Don Cunningham are expected to attend the 2 p.m. ceremony, as well. It will be held at 4972 Medical Center Circle near the Wescosville Recreation Center.

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http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lehigh-county/index.ssf/2015/05/costco_whole_foods_shopping_ce_5.html

Costco, Whole Foods Shopping Center Tenant Roster Almost Full; Project Set For Spring 2016 Opening

LOWER MACUNGIE TOWNSHIP, PA – The Hamilton Crossings tenant roster is almost full, project developers Tim Harrison and Jeremy Fogel said Tuesday.

Nearly 100 percent of the retail and restaurant space available at the 570,000-square-foot shopping center has been leased, they said during a presentation organized by Commercial Real Estate Women Network Lehigh Valley.

“There are people that, personally, I’d like to fit, but we just don’t have the room,” said Harrison, of Staten Island, N.Y.

The Lower Macungie Township complex will feature several Lehigh Valley firsts — Costco, Whole Foods and Nordstrom’s Rack — but declined to name retailers or restaurants that have not previously been announced.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lehigh-county/index.ssf/2015/01/hamilton_crossings_lower_macun.html

Lower Macungie Approves 3 Million Square Feet Of Warehouses

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

Lower Macungie Township officials signed off tonight on plans to construct just under 3 million square feet of warehouses.

The plans by developer Liberty Property Trust call for the buildings to be developed on 225 acres in the western part of the township, near Spring Creek and Mertztown roads.

The project includes three warehouses which are 1.2 million, 1.1 million and 650,000 square feet in size, as well as a 10,000-square-foot office building, township planning director Sara Pandl said.

Township commissioners voted 5-0 tonight to approve the project. Construction is expected to begin as early as this year and could conclude by 2015, according to Bill Bumber, Liberty Property Trust’s vice president of development.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lehigh-county/index.ssf/2014/07/lower_macungie_approves_3_mill.html

Cost Of Costco, Whole Foods Project: Tax Plan Adds Up To Small Percentage Of Developers’ Share

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In the ongoing debate over whether the Hamilton Crossings shopping center should be financed with tax money, a common question is why developers can’t make do without it.

The proposed tax-increment financing plan is expected to stack up between $6 million and $6.5 million for the roughly $140 million project, or less than 5 percent of the total.

Some TIF plan opponents have said the developers, Tim Harrison, of Staten Island, N.Y., and The Goldenberg Group, of Blue Bell, Pa., ought to be able to come up with the relatively small sum without reaching into taxpayers’ pockets.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lehigh-county/index.ssf/2014/06/tax_plan_adds_up_to_10_percent.html

Costco, Whole Foods Complex’s Tax Break Could Proceed Despite Lehigh County’s Rejection

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When Lehigh County Commissioners rejected a tax incentive plan last summer for a $140 million Costco, Target and Whole Foods complex in Lower Macungie Township, it appeared the project was dead on arrival.

The developer and local government officials had long maintained that if the county, township and East Penn School Board did not each sign off on a tax increment financing plan, the project could not move forward.

But now, the entity proposing the TIF says it can be approved even if one or more of the taxing bodies opts out, and they intend to press forward with it despite the county’s rejection.

“The TIF can legally proceed without the participation of the county,” said John Lushis Jr., solicitor for the Lehigh County Industrial Development Authority. “If their understanding was otherwise, then that’s not correct.”

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/lehigh-county/index.ssf/2014/03/costco_whole_foods_complex_cou.html

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

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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

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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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Lower Macungie Commissioners Voice Support For Costco Tax Financing

English: This is a logo for Costco. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Lower Macungie commissioners Thursday formally made known their unanimous support of tax financing for the proposed $140 million Costco-anchored shopping center in their township, and they’re asking Lehigh County commissioners to back it as well.

Township commissioners decided at their meeting to send a letter to the county board, urging it to approve a controversial tax increment financing plan for the Hamilton Crossings shopping center and allow development of a project that would bring tax dollars and jobs.

County commissioners twice have put off taking action on the proposal.

The township board had hoped to vote Thursday on the TIF proposal, which would allow up to $7 million in tax dollars generated by the shopping center be used to finance the work.  But they said they’re required to wait until after the county commissioners chime in.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-lower-macungie-costco-0620-20130620,0,5470365.story#ixzz2WrZev4ym
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Developer: Whole Foods Would Join Costco In Lower Macungie

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Whole Foods Market has agreed to join Costco and Target as an anchor at the proposed $140 million Hamilton Crossings shopping center in Lower Macungie.

Jeremy Fogel of the Goldenberg Group of Montgomery County, one of two developers planning the project on the Route 222 bypass, confirmed Tuesday that the grocery store chain is the “high end” food store that he and Tim Harrison of Staten Island, N.Y., plan to bring to the shopping center.

“We have been working with Whole Foods for some time, but only yesterday have been authorized to announce that we have an approved deal with Whole Foods,” Fogel said.  “We are currently negotiating a lease for them to become part of the Hamilton Crossings Shopping Center.

Fogel said the addition of Whole Foods enhances the appeal of the proposed development.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-lower-macungie-wholefoods-hamilton-crossings-20130604,0,1882822.story

Lehigh Valley Planners’ Review Of Costco Shopping Center On Hold

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The developers planning to bring a $140 million Costco-anchored shopping center to Lower Macungie asked the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission Thursday to postpone their formal review of the project to allow them to better explain their traffic improvements.

The sudden change in plans came two days after Lehigh County Commissioner Percy Dougherty told his board that he expected the planners to oppose the project’s traffic plan during their Thursday meeting.

Jeremy Fogel of the Goldenberg Group, one of two developers proposing the shopping center, said Friday that he and partner Tim Harrison of Staten Island wanted to meet with planners before they finalize their review and make recommendations. The shopping center, billed as a center modeled after the Promenade Shops of Saucon Valley, is planned for 63 acres to the east and west of Krocks Road, between Hamilton Boulevard and the Route 222 bypass.

“While they have some information that we submitted to the township, they do not have anywhere close to the full file of information related to transportation issues that has been created during the two-plus years that we have been working with [the state Department of Transportation],” Fogel wrote in an e-mailed response to questions.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-lehigh-valley-planning-commission-hamilton-cros-20130426,0,7797015.story

Developers Of Planned Lower Macungie Shopping Center ‘Trying To Bridge Financial Gap’

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Developers of a proposed shopping center that would bring a Costco Warehouse and Target to Lower Macungie Township pitched their project to the East Penn School Board Monday night in anticipation of a future request for Tax Increment Financing.

Staten Island developer Timothy Harrison presented his vision for Hamilton Crossings – a $120 million, 580,000 square-foot shopping center proposed on 62 acres on both sides of Krocks Road between the Route 222 Bypass and Hamilton Boulevard. He told the school board he would be returning to ask the district to participate on a TIF committee.

Harrison and his partner Jeremy Fogel, executive director of The Goldenberg Group in Blue Bell, discussed financial hurdles involved with the site that are caused by geotechnical issues resulting from more than 70 years of use as an iron-ore mine. They told directors that much of the site consists of mine wash, a pancake batter-like substance that has to be removed and mixed with concrete or rock before it is returned to the ground. Harrison said the ground could not support buildings or a parking lot without remediation.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/eastpenn/mc-east-penn-lower-mac-tif-20120814,0,2514578.story

Mack Reports Another Strong Month

 

MACK TRUCKS (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Mack Trucks is continuing to see high demand for its rigs.

The truckmaker produced 2,687 rigs in May, up almost 60 percent over the same month a year ago, the company reported Monday.

Mack, a division of Sweden’s Volvo AB, is headquartered in Greensboro, N.C., and produces all rigs at its Lower Macungie Township plant, which employs roughly 1,700 workers.

The company has produced 12,191 rigs through May, up 56 percent compared with the same span in 2011.

Lower Macungie Mapping Out Ambitious Greenway Plan

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

Budd Coates dreams of one day jogging continuously along pathways and parks through Lower Macungie without the need to compete with traffic cluttering streets and highways in one of the Lehigh Valley‘s most populated municipalities.

“Not to pick on anyone,” Coates said, “but Lower Macungie is so fragmented with some of these developments, you not only can’t get from one development to another in anything other than a car, you can’t get from one block to another.”

The avid Emmaus runner’s wish may not seem that far-fetched. Lower Macungie is in the process of mapping out an ambitious environment-protecting greenway plan, complete with a network of trails that would help connect the 22 1/2 –square-mile township’s neighborhoods to nearby municipalities and to surrounding parks, schools and other landmarks.

Forming the spine of the system would be 18 miles of trails that would follow the Little Lehigh and Swabia creeks.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-lower-macungie-greenway-plan-20120414,0,6389307.story

Mack Trucks Production/Sales On Record Pace

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…Mack produced 1,076 rigs in July, up 41 percent compared with the same time a year ago. The Volvo AB subsidiary has made 10,674 trucks from January through July. Mack’s latest figures put the company’s production up 61 percent compared with the same span a year earlier, a pace that could make 2011 one of its best years since the Great Recession sapped truck demand…

To read the rest of the article from the Morning Call, click here: http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-allentown-mack-trucks-sales-20110831,0,6080029.story

MORE MACK NEWS

Mack gets $19 million to develop ‘SuperTruck’

Federal government taps truckmaker to help with research and development project.

To read about it!  All Mack Trucks are produced in Lower MacungieTownship so this means jobs for the Lehigh Valley!

http://www.mcall.com/business/mc-allentown-mack-trucks-supertruck-d20110816,0,7574790.story?obref=obinsite