LEGACY OF SUCCESS
AEDC has played a part in virtually all of the larger redevelopment projects in Allentown, from simply pairing sites with developers, to performing initial preparation and site assembly to being the at-risk developer and nearly everything in between.
Past key projects include:
1989 | BRIDGEWORKS ENTERPRISE CENTER
Following AEDC’s purchase of the former Mack Trucks Plant 4A, AEDC performed a complete renovation of the 64,000-square-foot building into a manufacturing incubator.
1994 | PLANT NO. 1
AEDC renovated the 263,000-square-foot former Mack Truck Plant 4 into a multi-tenant manufacturing building. The building has been fully occupied since 2009.
1997 | THE DONLEY CENTER
AEDC acquired the former headquarters of Lehigh Cement, located in the 700 block of Hamilton Street that is now home to the Lehigh Carbon Community College Allentown (LCCC) campus, and performed a total building renovation. For a period of time, AEDC occupied the 7th floor of the building and leased portions of the building to LCCC. Ultimately, LCCC occupied the entire building and purchased it from AEDC.
2003 | PPL PLAZA
AEDC acquired the former Hess’s building and performed environmental remediation before demolishing the buildings to prepare the site for redevelopment. The site is now an eight-story, 245,000-square-foot office building.
2006 | BUTZ CORPORATE CENTER
AEDC assembled the real estate to provide site control for Butz to develop Phase I of their new office building, getting the company to commit to moving their headquarters to Allentown. AEDC also provided some assistance with grant administration. The site at 9th and Hamilton streets is now home to the Alvin H. Butz Co., Discover Lehigh Valley, the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, and Stoudt Financial Services, among others.
2007 | BRIDGEWORKS BY THE CREEK
Working cooperatively with Petrucci, AEDC developed an 87,500-square-foot industrial building on a former parking lot. The building was separated into a four-unit industrial condominium and is fully occupied by two manufacturing companies.
2008 | AMERICA ON WHEELS MUSEUM
AEDC purchased the former A&B meat packing plant at Front and Hamilton Streets, as well as surrounding properties known as Lehigh Landing. AEDC performed several rounds of environmental remediation and selective demolition of functionally obsolete structures. Subsequently, AEDC assisted America on Wheels in grant writing and grant administration to help construct a 61,500-square-foot transportation museum on a former industrial site along the Lehigh River waterfront.
2014 | PPL CENTER
AEDC played an early role in the redevelopment of the mixed-use AHL hockey arena that also features an office building, hotel, and restaurants. AEDC assembled the necessary parcels to create the roughly five-acre single lot to support the 1 million-square-foot complex. AEDC coordinated other site preparation work, such as remediation, demolition, and bulk earthmoving prior to engaging Butz as the construction manager of the project.
2014 | THREE CITY CENTER
AEDC prepared a formal request for proposals to identify interested developers for this site. City Center was selected as the developer for the site, and in very short order erected the City Center Three building.
2014 | TRIFECTA BUILDING
AEDC coordinated with Lehigh County to select Charles Street Capital as the developer for the former Schoen’s Building. Charles Street renovated the roughly 41,000-square-foot building into a mixed-use building featuring an all-glass east-facing façade.
2019 | KLEIN BUILDING
ACR completed renovation work on the adaptive reuse of the former Klein Building in the spring of 2019. Prior to ACR’s purchase from AEDC in 2019, the 24,000-square-foot brick building had sat vacant for decades. The mixed-use project converted the existing three-story building into seven luxury apartments and included an 8,000-square-foot single-story addition. The additional provided for the expansion and relocation of RB Collection to Allentown. RB Collection is a classic and antique automobile restoration facility that also offers tours in cooperation with America on Wheels Museum located directly across Front Street.