The revitalization of a key property in the Lehigh Valley reached a major milestone recently with the opening of the first building in the Green Knight Industrial Park. The site along Route 33 in Northampton County, which encompasses parts of Wind Gap Borough, Plainfield Township, and Bushkill Township, has been reclaimed by the Green Knight Economic Development Corp. after previously being one of the largest tire dumps in Pennsylvania.
“Green Knight recognized that we might be in a unique position to turn this site around and bring new business, create jobs, and boost local tax revenues in the community,” Chairman Robert Cornman said at the July 11 ribbon cutting.
Real estate developer JVI LLC, federal, state, and local officials, and others including Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp. (LVEDC) joined Green Knight Economic Development Corp. to celebrate the opening of the 49,000-square-foot building, constructed by JVI on property it purchased. It will be leased by Trillion Sources, a distributor of building materials, for light assembly and logistics operations. At full capacity, it could employ up to 20 people.
Two other buildings in the industrial park are planned by JVI – one of 192,000 square feet and one of 52,000 square feet – with the potential to be used for manufacturing. There is room for a total of six buildings in the 55-acre park.
“We're excited to do more buildings in this area,” said Jim Vozar, President of JVI.
"We are committed to collaborating with local agencies in private-public partnerships to drive economic development in the regions we operate. Through the allocation of recreation funds and traffic impact fees, we not only contribute to our community but also prioritize bringing projects together and planning for future endeavors,” he said.
Green Knight Economic Development Corp. is a not-for-profit corporation that facilitates economic development and assists local organizations in the municipalities of the Pen Argyl School District. Its operations are funded by revenues from a methane-to-energy plant in Plainfield Township.
The corporation purchased the site of the Green Knight Industrial Park in 2015 to spearhead the redevelopment of the property, a former quarry operation, after the state Department of Environmental Protection invested nearly $2 million to remove 1.9 million tires.
The organization finished the site remediation, including cleaning up remaining tires and soil, and built roads and other infrastructure.
Cornman thanked the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the state Department of Community and Economic Development, and the Commonwealth Financing Authority for providing nearly $4 million in grants and loans toward the project.
Mandy Book, Deputy Secretary of Business Finance at the Department of Community and Economic Development, thanked everyone who participated in the challenging project for their diligence in working through the many hurdles.
“It takes time. It's an investment, and they saw the future potential here, along with the county. It would be lost to not point out that this doesn't happen without partnership. And I think that celebrating that today is extra important as well,” Book said.
Those who were recognized for supporting or participating in the project included LVEDC; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Northampton County; Muschlitz Excavating; Taggart Associates; Bohler Engineering; and Alloy5 Architecture.
Book said the industrial park is an example of the type of development Pennsylvania is trying to achieve through the state’s recently approved $400 million PA SITES program. It provides grants to make sites shovel ready for development.
“Creating the spaces and the places for folks to put business, to create jobs, to have places ready to go, to come in and make that happen,” Book said.
Cornman thanked the state and federal legislators who he said were “instrumental” in obtaining public funding for the project in an “all-hands-on-deck approach.”
Trillion Sources, which is relocating from its current location in Lower Nazareth Township, received commendations from Pennsylvania State Sen. Lisa Boscola and Rep. Ann Flood. Green Knight Economic Development Corp. received a proclamation from U.S. Rep. Susan Wild.