PA budget sets $500 million aside for redevelopment. These Lehigh Valley sites could benefit.

There are plenty of places in the Lehigh Valley that could use a share of the $500 million the state set for site development in its new budget.

One of them is the former Bethlehem Steel General Office Building on the city’s South Side, which is where Gov. Josh Shapiro and a group of Valley dignitaries were Tuesday morning for a ceremonial signing of the $47.6 billion 2024-25 budget that includes that funding. The bill was approved last week by the Legislature, two weeks after its deadline.

Making the state competitive economically and creating more jobs is considered one of the governor’s top priorities. Of the $500 million, $400 million is slated for the Pennsylvania Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites program. The idea of the program is to make Pennsylvania more competitive on a national scale, attract businesses and create good-paying jobs.

Don Cunningham, president and CEO of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corp., was on hand and rattled off a list of potential projects that could benefit from the funding, including the former Lehigh Valley Dairy in Whitehall Township, the former Dixie Cup factory in Wilson, several parcels along the Lehigh River in Bethlehem, the Champion Spark Plug site in Hellertown and the F.L. Smidth land in Catasauqua.

“There are little pockets all over the place,” Cunningham said. “This is $500 million going across all of Pennsylvania, but I think what they want to do is focus on things that can happen fairly quickly. It’s something that maybe has a 10- or 20-year runway on it. The nice thing about the Lehigh Valley properties is with a little bit of infusion of money we can turn them around.”

State Rep. Steve Samuelson and state Sen. Lisa Boscola both promoted the SGO building in their speeches. Samuelson, D-Northampton, pointed out that the complex, which dates to 1906 and served as the company’s headquarters until its move to Martin Tower in 1972, would be a good fit for such funding, especially since the preservation tax credit has been raised from $5 million to $20 million.

“This law is going to have benefits for our state and our region for decades to come,” Samuelson said.

Boscola, D-Northampton, said she’s glad the state finally has an economic blueprint.

“Today, we’re here to let everyone know that Pennsylvania is open for business and ready to invest when the government works in collaboration with the business community,” she said. “It results in a better tomorrow for all our communities, and Bethlehem is proof of that.”

The SGO building along South Third Street has been vacant since the 1990s, when steelmaking ended in Bethlehem. In the past, it has been proposed for various reuses, such as apartments, but none of those plans got off the ground. Peron Development in 2021 proposed transforming the space into a modern office building for 600 people.

Mayor J. William Reynolds said the program will give new life to older infrastructure while allowing the state to compete nationally for business.

“The General Office Building is one of the more historic buildings we have in the city of Bethlehem,” Reynolds said. “Redeveloping would be huge symbolically, it would be huge economically. It’d be just a wonderful opportunity.”

Shapiro said he’s been impressed with the Lehigh Valley’s growth and how local organizations and municipalities work together to foster growth.

“I am here in the Lehigh Valley because this is obviously a critically important part of our commonwealth,” Shapiro said, “but we’re also here because this is an area that’s gotten its act together from its elected leaders, business leaders, leaders of labor and others. Everybody’s rowing in the same direction. Everybody understands the important role that economic development plays in creating a safer, healthier environment for more people to come to your table and provide for their families.

“That’s what real freedom looks like, and that’s what real opportunity looks like.”

The budget also includes $20 million for the Main Street Matters program, to support small businesses and commercial corridors; $20 million in state funding for small minority-owned businesses in Pennsylvania; and $15 million for tourism marketing to attract more visitors.

Morning Call reporter Evan Jones can be reached at ejones@mcall.com .