The CRIZ and FEDeX

Offer to Charity

I want to share two significant announcements that the Lehigh Valley has witnessed over the past two weeks. I will do so by sharing some important information about each project

Announcement #1

CRIZ= City Revitalization and Improvement Zone will happen in a 130 acre area surrounding the Martin Tower.

-$350 Million Dollars in projected economic developments
-A Bass Pro Shop is said to be in development at the Ole #2 Machine shop in Bethlehem.
-A Hotel
-A Conference Center
-High Rise buildings by Lehigh
-Current Mayor Bethlehem Mayor Callahan projects about 3000 construction jobs and 4000 permanent jobs. The timeframe for these jobs is unclear.

Reaction: Bethlehem City Proper has about 74,982 people living it. I am not entirely sure what the exact boundaries of the city proper include. That being said, the number of permanent jobs added to this 130 acre tax zone will be about a 5% increase in proportion to the population of Bethlehem. 9% if one includes the temporary construction jobs.The unemployment in Northampton County is about 7.4% according to the bureau of labor. Presuming the same rate in  the Bethlehem City, one can see how these additional jobs will help the area from a number's perspective.

There are more details about a few of the project proposed in the sources I used for this post.

Source for information comes from the Morning Call and the Express Times

Announcement # 2

FedEx is planning a 175 million dollar development of 253 acres around Allen Township near the Lehigh Valley Airport. This should bring about 800 new jobs to the area. I do not believe this includes construction jobs, this development site could be established by 2015, which would be impressive expediency for development if this happens.

Reaction: This will likely be a significant change for the mainly rural area of Allen township. Change can be difficult but it will add a lot of new neighbors and bring a lot of tax dollars to the municipality. The new municipal building for Allen township is just down the street from this proposed project and this gives the corridor a nice symmetry of private and public building working in the same area.

Source for information: Mcall