Lehigh Valley Industrial Space

Lehigh Valley Industrial SpaceWolf Commercial Real Estate is the Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that buyers, sellers, owners and tenants rely on for their Lehigh Valley industrial space needs.

We specialize in all types of available industrial space in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding area, from traditional space for warehousing and manufacturing to more complex Lehigh Valley industrial flex space appropriate for multiple uses under one roof, such as offices, showrooms, warehousing and more.  Wolf Commercial Real Estate is the Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm with the people, the power and the connections you need to turn your commercial real estate goals into reality.

The team of real estate professionals at Wolf Commercial Real Estate maintains a total commitment to client-focused relationships, providing unparalleled service and proven expertise.  As a premier Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker, we supply clients and prospects with ongoing detailed information about Lehigh Valley industrial flex space to help them meet their commercial real estate goals.

Buyers and tenants trust our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm to select the available industrial space in the Lehigh Valley that is ideal for their needs. Our experts then examine the sale or lease terms to assure that they enhance your commercial real estate goals. At Wolf Commercial Real Estate, we’re by your side every step of the way to facilitate a smooth transition to your new Lehigh Valley industrial flex space.

Owners and investors recognize the value of the defined marketing process our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm has developed.  Our marketing plan is customized to each property and sub-market, making it uniquely effective in matching buyers and tenants with available industrial space in the Lehigh Valley and surrounding area.  Demand is high for Lehigh Valley industrial space.  If you are thinking about selling or leasing your Lehigh Valley industrial flex space, act now to take advantage of favorable market conditions.

For more information about Lehigh Valley industrial space for sale or lease, please contact Wolf Commercial Real Estate, the Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that clients depend on for all their Lehigh Valley commercial real estate needs.

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Lehigh Valley’s Availability of Warehouse is Underserved

Lehigh Valley’s Small-Bay Industrial Market Is Underserved by Recent Construction

Amid headlines reporting on mega-leases by the likes of Shopify, Nike, Geodis and Unis in Lehigh Valley in recent years, one industrial property segment has flown under the radar – those measuring 50,000 square feet or less, also known as small-bay industrial facilities. Both vacancy and availability across this segment continue to shrink, despite elevated levels of new construction underway.

Across Lehigh Valley’s small-footprint industrial buildings, inventory availability fell from an already-compressed 4.8% in the fourth quarter of 2019 to 4.1% at the end of the first quarter of this year. Availability across warehouse properties measuring more than 500,000 square feet is slightly higher but remains compressed at 6.3%.

*Article courtesy of Costar

For more information about Lehigh Valley Industrial space for sale or lease or about any other properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage and advisory firm, is a premier commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.

Please visit our website for a full listing of Lehigh Valley commercial properties for lease or sale, www.wolfcre.com.

Mainfreight Inks Lease for LogistiCenter at Lehigh Valley East Facility

Global supply logistics provider Mainfreight has leased an entire facility within Dermody Properties’ LogistiCenter at Lehigh Valley East in Wind Gap, Pennsylvania.

Mainfreight is taking the 207,900-square-foot facility at 460 E. Moorestown Road, which was built in 2020, according to CoStar data.

“We are excited to grow our footprint to eastern Pennsylvania, further extending the capabilities and network reach we offer to our customers,” René van Houtum, president of warehousing for Mainfreight, said in a statement. “With this site, our North American footprint now covers 1.8 million square feet across ten North American regional sites.”

The Lehigh Valley is a desirable location for a company like Mainfreight, which was looking to expand its retail and direct-to-consumer fulfillment operations in the Eastern United States, according to Gene Preston, east region partner at Dermody Properties.

The other building at LogistiCenter at Lehigh Valley East, a 349,920-square-foot facility at 450 E. Moorestown Road, is currently available for lease.

*Article courtesy of CoStar

For more information about Lehigh Valley Industrial space for sale or lease or about any other Lehigh Valley Industrial properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage and advisory firm, is a premier Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Lehigh Valley commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Lehigh Valley commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Lehigh Valley commercial properties for lease or sale through our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Bed Bath & Beyond leases 1M-square-foot distribution center in Lehigh Valley

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. plans to occupy a 1-million-square-foot distribution center in Pennsylvania as part of a $250 million effort to modernize its supply chain.

The facility in Frackville in the Lehigh Valley will be one of two distribution facilities the Union, New Jersey, company plans to open. The other will be located in Southern California.

The deal contributed to continued robust industrial leasing activity in the Lehigh Valley market. The I-78/I-81 Corridor experienced more than 7 million square feet of absorption during the second quarter and that was the “highest ever recorded in a single quarter.” That submarket has 385.4 million square feet and a vacancy rate of 5.8%. Asking rents for new construction in that area come in at $7 a square foot.

Bed Bath & Beyond (NASDAQ: BBBY) selected Ryder System Inc., a third-party logistics company, to develop and operate the two regional distribution centers. The building in Pennsylvania can be expanded beyond 1 million square feet. It will serve Bed Bath & Beyond’s Northeast stores as well as online orders. It will open this fall and is expected to create 300 jobs.

*Article courtesy of CoStar

For more information about Lehigh Valley Industrial space for sale or lease or about any other Lehigh Valley Industrial properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage and advisory firm, is a premier Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Lehigh Valley commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Lehigh Valley commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Lehigh Valley commercial properties for lease or sale through our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Investors Making Plays Across North Atlantic Trade Corridor, Particularly in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley

The second quarter of 2021 saw some of the highest levels of industrial investment ever recorded in the North Atlantic trade corridor, according to CoStar data.

Investors spent over half a billion dollars acquiring warehouses and distribution centers across the seven markets that orbit Philadelphia. This figure compares favorably to what these same markets saw in the first quarter, when roughly $250 million was spent. It also compares well to the 10-year quarterly average, which is closer to $400 million.

Unsurprisingly, much of the second quarter transaction volume came from the Lehigh Valley industrial market. Lehigh remains Pennsylvania’s premiere shipping node and investors have been buying assets here for some time. What is interesting is just how much these assets are selling for now.

The sale at 951 Willowbrook Road in Northampton appears to be the most expensive acquisition in Lehigh history. This 1 million-square-foot distribution center sold for an eye-popping $195 per square foot in late April, closing at just over $200 million.

There are no recent non-portfolio transactions that come close to that sales price locally. It also compares favorably to a similarly sized property which sold in mid-2020, when a 975,000-square-foot warehouse in Lopatcong, New Jersey, sold for $135 per square foot.

While some of this price discrepancy can be explained by a difference in occupancy and location, what is also interesting about Lehigh is how much its Class B assets sold for last quarter. For instance, 6355 Farm Bureau Road sold in May for over $90 per square foot. This 40-year-old, 100,000-square-foot property was acquired by Indus Realty Trust of New York, which stated it was attracted to the property’s location and the ability to develop the land it sits on in the future.

That property is about one mile from the Interstate 78/I-476 interchange that makes Lehigh so popular. While prices can spike in this area, assets similar to 6355 Farm Bureau Road were typically trading for closer to $60 per square foot prior to the pandemic.

Given that demand for industrial space continues to climb and Lehigh has a prominent position on the Northeast supply chain, it seems likely that this will remain a hot investment market in the coming quarters.

*Article courtesy of CoStar

For more information about Lehigh Valley Industrial space for sale or lease or about any other Lehigh Valley Industrial properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage and advisory firm, is a premier Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Lehigh Valley commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Lehigh Valley commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Lehigh Valley commercial properties for lease or sale through our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Lehigh Valley Distribution Center Sells for $201.5 Million

A recently built 1.03 million-square-foot distribution center in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley has sold for $201.5 million, ranking it as the priciest single-property industrial deal for the market, according to CoStar data.

The industrial facility is located within the master-planned Rockefeller Group Logistics Park at 951 Willowbrook Road in Northampton, a borough about 6 miles north of Allentown and about 8 miles from Bethlehem. Built in 2020, the facility is fully leased to third-party logistics company Geodis, according to CoStar data.

COVID-19 drastically accelerated the growth of e-commerce, and Lehigh Valley has been ideally situated to take advantage, CoStar market analyst Ben Atwood noted in a report about the region.

“The international ports and sprawling suburbs of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore are all within a two hour drive” Atwood wrote. “Within 500 miles is roughly 40% of the nation’s population as are 60% of Canadians. The interstates contained within this market also allow Lehigh to connect directly with inland ports to the south and west, like Columbus and Nashville.”

Atwood noted that because of the primacy of location in shipping, some of the biggest names in logistics occupy millions of square feet here, and the market has a relatively low level of at-risk tenants. That has insulated owners of existing supply through 2020, and vacancies barely budged in spite of millions of square feet of speculative space arriving.

*Article courtesy of CoStar

For more information about Lehigh Valley Industrial space for sale or lease or about any other Lehigh Valley Industrial properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage and advisory firm, is a premier Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Lehigh Valley commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Lehigh Valley commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Lehigh Valley commercial properties for lease or sale through our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm.

CenterPoint enters Lehigh Valley industrial market with $200M purchase

An Illinois owner of industrial real estate has entered the Lehigh Valley market with a $201.5 million purchase of 951 Willowbrook Road, a 1.03-million-square-foot warehouse-distribution center in Northampton.

CenterPoint Properties has been expanding its core presence in the Northern New Jersey and New York industrial market and the Lehigh Valley has been a target market.

The building was built in 2020 and sold by a joint venture between New York-based Rockefeller Group. The property is fully leased to Geodis, a third-party logistics company, and is located next to a FedEx Ground hub and not far from Lehigh Valley International Airport. Geodis has nine years remaining on its lease.

The property is part of Rockefeller Group Logistics Park, a master-planned industrial park that is in the highly desirable and dynamic Lehigh Valley industrial market. The property is near interstates 78 and 476 and Route 22, providing proximity to the Lehigh Valley region, Philadelphia and New York City.

The Lehigh Valley industrial market had a banner year in 2020, setting records in leasing activity, logging 23.5 million square feet in leases, or 20% more than a previous record set in 2016, according to a Cushman & Wakefield report.

Construction of new buildings also set a record with 21.3 million square feet of new space put on that Pennsylvania market last year. That was 1.25 million square feet more than the prior record set in 2019.

*Article courtesy of Philadelphia Business Journal

For more information about Lehigh Valley Industrial space for sale or lease or about any other Lehigh Valley Industrial properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage and advisory firm, is a premier Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Lehigh Valley commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Lehigh Valley commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Lehigh Valley commercial properties for lease or sale through our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Nike Is Coming to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Nike Lehigh Valley

One of the largest clothing companies on the planet is coming to the Lehigh Valley.

Nike has leased over 1 million square feet at 3633 Commerce Center Blvd. in the Majestic Bethlehem Center, an industrial park that was developed on top of an old Bethlehem Steel plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

The campus has become one of Lehigh’s most prominent shipping nodes, and the Fortune 100 company will soon be neighbors with QVC, Crayola and McKesson. Like Beaverton, Oregon-based Nike, these tenants were drawn to the Lehigh Valley market by its exceptional interstate access and direct routes into New York and Philadelphia.

The deal is excellent news for Lehigh, because in spite of the market’s strengths, it saw a curious downtick in industrial demand in 2020. Net absorption was below what was seen in the nearby Scranton and Berks County markets, which each saw multiple million-square-foot deals close in the past four quarters.

This cooling was especially surprising given the market’s prominence before the coronavirus pandemic and how the related shutdowns rapidly accelerated online shopping. One would anticipate this market doing extremely well, as over the past decade, Lehigh has easily been the North Atlantic Trade Corridor’s most in-demand market.

Local industrial professionals remain confident that the market will rebound but point to the cheaper rates and availability of premium space outside the valley as factors that could be siphoning away demand. With millions of square feet of speculative development on the way, Lehigh Valley finds itself in a potentially troubling spot for the first time in years.

While the sheer amount of space set to deliver might make some waves in the coming quarters, Nike’s decision to set up shop within Lehigh is a good indication that 2020 was an anomaly, not a trend. This market remains supremely positioned on the supply chain, and the growth of online shopping caused by the coronavirus will likely keep demand elevated for years.

*Article courtesy of CoStar

For more information about Lehigh Valley Industrial space for sale or lease or about any other Lehigh Valley Industrial properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage and advisory firm, is a premier Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Lehigh Valley commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Lehigh Valley commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Lehigh Valley commercial properties for lease or sale through our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Neighboring Markets Might Be Siphoning Industrial Demand Away From Lehigh Valley

The Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, logistics sector has been successful for so long that it almost feels immune to risk. But things are starting to look interesting one quarter into the year.

CoStar data shows industrial demand within Lehigh Valley cooled off somewhat in 2020. The market’s vacancies climbed by roughly 2% during the turbulent year, and in the past 12 months, more than 1 million square feet of industrial space has been put up for sublease.

Last year saw about 2.4 million square feet of net absorption, the difference between move-ins and move-outs. This isn’t a freakishly low figure, but it is under the market’s historic average and one of its weaker showings since 2010. 

That is somewhat concerning because this curious softening of demand is also occurring at a time when some experts are beginning to caution about the risk of oversaturation. There’s nearly 8 million square feet of speculative space on the way in the Valley, and the major projects that delivered in 2020 remain 50% unoccupied at the end of the first quarter.

In all likelihood, this lull is just a blip, and demand will soon bounce back. But what’s interesting here is Lehigh’s cooldown occurred as the national logistics market was exploding. Lehigh should have done very well last year, and what’s even more intriguing is its neighbors are overperforming notably.

Both Scranton and Reading had banner years in 2020, each seeing over 4 million square feet of net absorption, some of the highest levels ever recorded for either markets. And neither market has slowed since the start of 2021. Multiple 1 million-square-foot deals have been inked in these two markets since January, while Lehigh has seen just a few leases over 200,000 square feet finalize in that same time.

Given the relatively slow pace of last year’s leasing, it looks possible that Lehigh’s vacancies could soften notably this year, but it’s still far too early to say this is a trend. CoStar Advisory Services points out that large-scale projects in the Valley have leased up notably quicker than the national average over the past several years, and Lehigh’s position on the supply chain is just too good to dismiss.

But it might mean that tenants are now more willing to sacrifice the perfect location for cheaper rents and more labor. When it comes to the all-important labor pool, Berks County has Lehigh beat outright. Rents in both markets are considerably cheaper, as well, something Scranton developers have been eager to point out.

For those looking to read the rapidly evolving world of central Pennsylvania logistics, Lehigh Valley is now a market worth monitoring closely.

*Article courtesy of CoStar

For more information about Lehigh Valley space for sale or lease in Lehigh Valley or about any other Lehigh Valley properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage and advisory firm, is a premier Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Lehigh Valley commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Lehigh Valley commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Lehigh Valley commercial properties for lease or sale through our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Lehigh Valley Industrial Market Well Positioned for 2021

Market Posted Year-Over-Year Rent Growth of Nearly 5.5% Last Year

The Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, industrial market took everything COVID-19 dished out without missing a beat. And it appears ready for whatever 2021 may throw its way.

Lehigh Valley’s unique location and proximity to every major city along the northeastern shore meant at the start of the shutdown, it had a deep base of strong tenants relatively unexposed to risk. This helped keep the market stable through a few turbulent months in the second quarter when leasing activity dried up across the county.

Because COVID-19 has accelerated the growth of e-commerce, demand quickly resumed. Last year ended with nearly 2.5 million square feet of net absorption — the difference between move-ins and move-outs — which kept vacancies stable even as millions of square feet of industrial space came online in the midst of a global pandemic. The market posted year-over-year rent growth of nearly 5.5%, which is incredible considering the chaos surrounding the initial shutdown.

Demand was heaviest in the Fogelsville corridor, where Interstates 78 and 476 intersect. This is one of the state’s best locations for distributors, and 14 of the year’s 52 leases over 10,000 square feet were signed here. There was also an interesting flurry of activity near Easton and close to the airport, where Geodis and Natural Foods each signed for over 1 million square feet in 2020.

This level of activity likely helped give developers the confidence to resume building, breaking ground on more than 7 million square feet last year. Many of these projects are northeast of Fogelsville and hug I-22. There’s several major projects underway around Easton, which offers the most direct access into New York City but also substantial work being done near the Airport.

Given the market’s location and the growth of e-commerce, it is not too surprising that investment exploded in the Valley. Total industrial sales volume was over $730 million, one of the highest levels in market history and the third consecutive year of sales growth. Big buyers on the year included Prudential, Uline, Prologis, and the BlackStone Group.

*Article courtesy of CoStar

For more information about Lehigh Valley space for sale or lease in Lehigh Valley or about any other Lehigh Valley properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage and advisory firm, is a premier Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Lehigh Valley commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Lehigh Valley commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Lehigh Valley commercial properties for lease or sale through our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm.

Bridge Development, Link Team on Lehigh Valley Industrial Project

Region Experiences Surge in New Logistics Hubs

Link Logistics Real Estate is teaming up with Bridge Development Partners to create a 480,000-square-foot industrial campus on a 60-acre site in the Lehigh Valley in Pennsylvania, a hot spot for such projects.

Bridge, headquartered in Chicago, assigned the contract for the vacant site at 428 E. Moorestown Road in Wind Gap to Link after securing all of the necessary development approvals. Link Logistics, the Piscataway, New Jersey-based industrial real estate arm of investment giant Blackstone, has retained Bridge to provide development management services and construct a the industrial facility on its behalf.

Construction on the project is slated is begin this month, with completion expected in December. It is Bridge’s first development in Pennsylvania and will be overseen by Northeast Region Partner Jeff Milanaik and his team, according to a statement from the real estate firm.

With space for industrial development scant and state-of-the-art logistics properties scarce in North Jersey, real estate firms have gone south and west to build warehouse and distribution hubs. That’s sparked a flood of development in the Lehigh Valley, a region that borders on and includes part of the Garden State but mainly encompasses Allentown, Bethlehem and Easton in Pennsylvania.

Although Bridge hasn’t had any projects in the Keystone State previously, it has developed in the New Jersey portion of the Lehigh Valley. The developer built Bridge Point 78, a 3.85-million-square-foot industrial campus with six buildings in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, on a former Ingersoll Rand site.

The project’s first phase was recently purchased by PGIM Real Estate for $275 million, according to CoStar data. The complex has a tenant roster that includes Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo, Mark Anthony Brands, which distributes White Claw alcoholic seltzer, and lawn-care manufacturer ScottsMiracle-Gro.

“The Lehigh Valley continues to distinguish itself as one of the country’s most vital distribution and logistics hubs, which was critical to our success at nearby Bridge Point 78,” Milanaik said in a statement.

The proposed Lehigh North project would feature 36-foot-clear heights, a cross-docked configuration for its 73 exterior docks, four drive-in doors, 100 trailer positions and parking for 187 cars. The facility is equidistant between Route 78 and Allentown near Route 33 through the Northampton Valley.

The new development would be an addition to Link’s Lehigh Valley portfolio, which totals more than 16 million square feet of industrial space, according to Britton Winterer, the company’s executive vice president and head of development.

It is the second industrial project that Bridge and Link have partnered on, with the two companies developing a 95,000-square-foot industrial facility in Lyndhurst, New Jersey, in 2019.

*Article Courtesy of CoStar

For more information about Lehigh Valley space for sale or lease in Lehigh Valley or about any other Lehigh Valley properties for sale or lease, please contact WCRE at 215-799-6900.

Wolf Commercial Real Estate, a full-service CORFAC International brokerage and advisory firm, is a premier Lehigh Valley commercial real estate broker that provides a full range of Lehigh Valley commercial real estate listings and services, property management services, and marketing commercial offices, medical properties, industrial properties, land properties, retail buildings and other Lehigh Valley commercial properties for buyers, tenants, investors and sellers.

Please visit our websites for a full listing of Lehigh Valley commercial properties for lease or sale through our Lehigh Valley commercial real estate brokerage firm.