Realtors get look at opportunities at Northface Business Park

Lehigh Valley real estate agents got a peek at the potential opportunities available at the Northface Business Park during the Realtors Fall FAM Tour last week.

The tour is part of an initiative to stimulate Lehigh Valley Realtors’ interest in Carbon County properties. Thanks to rising rents and limited space in the Valley, neighboring counties such as Carbon and Monroe have become appealing locations for industrial and commercial growth.

As part of the tour organized by the Carbon Chamber and Economic Development and the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors, the late-morning stop provided the agents with an eagle-eye view of a finished parcel between the Lehigh River and Route 248 in Palmerton.

“A lot of the Realtors that are here with us today, and who were with us on our earlier spring tour, have never been exposed to Carbon County, or if they do come here, they come as a tourist, as a visitor,” director of economic development Kathy Henderson said.

“They’re not really getting the full feel of what Carbon has to offer, what we’re all about here. So, these FAM tours gave them the opportunity to see that, and to learn a lot more about us, what we do here, who we are and what opportunities are out there.”

Developer George R. Petrole offered details of the business park and plans for its future as the Realtors explored the large lot. With ample building space, room for parking, and easy access points to Route 248, the property could prove to be a lucrative site for a larger-scale business.

“We’re standing here on the westernmost parcel of the former New Jersey Zinc site. This is a 30-acre parcel which has been remediated, reclaimed. Most of it has been sitting here for over two years, three years and this will be the first site where we’d like to get somebody out here to develop, put up a building. Our engineers have laid out a footprint for up to a 450,000-square-foot building on this site,” Petrole said.

The lot sits atop a layer of waste materials from the former New Jersey Zinc Company, but Petrole assured the group that enough fill has been put in place to ensure construction would not disturb the underlaying contaminated soil. According to plans from Lehigh Engineering Associates, wetlands on site will not be affected by construction.

Tarrant Booker, of Century 21 Keim Realtors, was happy to get out on the land and get a first-person look at the property, allowing him to plan his pitch to potential clients.

“It’s great to see a collaboration of these organizations, the Lehigh Valley and Carbon. It was also great to see these areas,” Booker said. “Being that I’ve seen this, I have the experience, I can say ‘This is what I’ve seen, this is what’s going on.’ It’s a great marketing tool. This large site, you’re not going to ask Wendy’s to build there, you’re going to ask a warehouse, a logistics company.”

Since the site is zoned for industrial business, warehouses, logistics and manufacturing companies could make good use of the area, potentially providing over 500 job opportunities.

Petrole remarked that while re-zoning the area for commercial business is possible, it would be unlikely.

Going forward, the plan is to wrap up construction by moving west to east within the next three years, bringing the 10-year Northface Business Park project to completion.

Henderson was pleased with the tour, and excited about the future of business in Carbon County, especially in regard to prospects like Northface, thanks to partnerships like the chamber and the Realtors.

“I’m just thankful and blessed to be a part of it, and to be able to bring people together who have like interests, to be able to bring the Realtors together who are working with the clients who are looking for these kinds of opportunities that we can offer here in Carbon,” she said.