Pennsylvania’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) made some Christmas wishes come true.
The program on Wednesday awarded $455 million in grant money to development projects all around the state, including in the Lehigh Valley. From old building reclamations to new parking structures, the grants cover a wide swath of life in Northampton and Lehigh counties, totaling $19.5 million in the region alone.
One of the more notable projects in Easton is on four acres at South Third Street and Larry Holmes Drive. The site of the former Days Inn was potentially going to house a Da Vinci Science Center expansion, before the project was shifted to Allentown. Now, thanks to $1.2 million allotted to Peron Development and the city, the space is set to give rise to a 245-space parking garage to support Peron’s mixed-use development on the site.
Also in Easton, Lafayette College is receiving a $1 million grant through RACP to continue its expansion on the old Rinek Cordage Co. site at 991 Bushkill Drive. The college has been involved in the estimated $2 million project for about a year. Through the redevelopment of the former industrial space, Lafayette will add a 43,000-square-foot extension of its campus.
Lafayette isn’t the only college benefitting from the grants. DeSales University was awarded $1 million in grant funding to go toward its new 40,000-square-foot academic building, the DeSales University Medical Studies Building. It’ll house the school’s Doctor of Physical Therapy and Speech Language Pathology programs, with labs, lecture halls, faculty offices and a student lounge currently in the plans.
A couple of cultural touchstones in Bethlehem will be getting major facelifts with grant money from the program. In the Historic Downtown District, the Boyd Theatre’s second stage of redevelopment is being allotted $250,000 as it gets turned into a mixed-use retail space on the first floor and 120 apartment units on the second floor. Across the Lehigh River on SouthSide Bethlehem, $3.5 million is being granted to ArtsQuest to continue its plan to replace the Banana Factory with an expansive community cultural center. Specifically, this grant is for phase 2 of the project, which sees the construction of the new space in the parking lot of the Banana Factory. Demolition of the Banana Factory is part of the last phases of the project, and will be in use until that point.
Elsewhere on SouthSide Bethlehem, Alloy5 Architecture is receiving a grant of $1 million to aid in its redevelopment of the Goodman Furniture building at 30-32 E. Third St. into a mixed-use space.
Lehigh Valley International Airport is also getting an upgrade, thanks to $1 million from the RACP program. Having sought to increase its number of TSA checkpoints since 2017, the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority is getting its wish, as the grant will fund a project to double the number of checkpoints from two to four, as well as expand terminal space.
There were a handful of other awards across the Lehigh Valley as well. The New Vitae Wellness and Recovery Center was awarded $500,000 to expand their Mount Trexler Manor Veterans and Brain Injury Center in order to meet the increased need for patients with traumatic brain injuries and mental health challenges. Another $500,000 from RACP is going towards Kay Builders’ three-story Medical Office Building as part of South Whitehall Township’s Ridge Farms development.
Other projects receiving some funding are the renovation of the Capital BlueCross’ Allentown Office and the Lehigh County Humane Society’s construction of a new state-of-the-art Community Veterinary Clinic and Community Adoption Center.
State Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, described several of the projects as shovel-ready, with groundbreakings expected in 2021.
“These awards represent a significant opportunity to leverage local investment that will lead to substantial new projects for the betterment of the Lehigh Valley,” Browne, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said in a statement. “Each of these projects have the potential to be a catalyst to transform and improve their respective communities.”
Stated Sen. Lisa Boscola, D-Lehigh/Northampton: “It is critically important that our state provide capital assistance to assist in the redevelopment of five important economic development projects in the cities of Bethlehem and Easton and a project to improve passenger safety at Lehigh Valley International Airport.
“By investing in these projects, the Commonwealth is providing crucial investments to make not only make these projects economically viable, but also create additional economic development projects that will not only create jobs, but also positively impact businesses and neighborhoods in our urban areas.”
The RACP is administered by the state Office of the Budget for the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational and historical improvement projects. RACP projects are authorized in the Redevelopment Assistance section of a Capital Budget Itemization Act, have a regional or multi-jurisdictional impact, and generate substantial increases or maintain current levels of employment, tax revenues or other measures of economic activity.
Here is a table listing all $19.5 million worth of the Lehigh Valley’s latest RACP grants. You can click here to view it if it is not displaying.
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Connor Lagore may be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com.
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December 27, 2020 at 07:00PM
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Lehigh Valley projects share $19.5M holiday boost from Pa. redevelopment program - lehighvalleylive.com
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