The rehabbing of the huge Bethlehem Steel property -- the 1,600 acres (648 hectares) known as Bethlehem Commerce Center -- soon may finally get under way in the Lehigh Valley, as various pieces fall into place.
      One of those pieces is yet another new initiative from Gov. Rendell, the Keystone Innovation Zone program, with the south side of Bethlehem its show pony. Lehigh University will receive start-up funding, as well as facilitate access to $20 million in funding for those start-ups which might locate in the new zone.
      Within that zone lies Lehigh Valley Industrial Park Inc.'s LVIP VII, more than 1,000 acres (405 hectares) that used to be part of the Bethlehem Steel property, most recently belonging to International Steel Group (ISG). LVIP VII recently received its own $2 million in funding from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, and concluded negotiations to acquire the property from ISG in late May 2004.
      Phase one of the development is now under way with the building of a $14-million, 120,000-sq.-ft. (11,148-sq.-m.), 40-employee warehouse for United States Cold Storage on 32 acres (13 hectares) in the 256-acre (104-hectare) Saucon tract, phase one of the LVIP project. The facility can expand to as much as 600,000 sq. ft. (55,740 sq. m.), and potentially employ 150 people. Northampton County is kicking in $13 million for park infrastructure.
      LVIP's six parks generate some $9.6 million in annual payroll and property taxes, from 370 companies employing 17,000 people. At full buildout of parks I-VI, the organization projects employment of 20,000 -- exactly the number of employees at Bethlehem Steel in its heyday.
      Los Angeles­based industrial property developer Majestic Realty is negotiating to buy a 550-acre (223-hectare) parcel adjacent to LVIP VII. Tom Cozzolino, vice president for industrial development at Majestic, says, "At an old steel plant, the process is not typical. We have some environmental challenges on our particular property, and we're in the due diligence investigation of those challenges."
      Other obstacles to forward momentum include the movement of an intermodal center and the $59-million widening of Route 412, which is awaiting crucial federal funding.
      But other bridge projects and the surprising denial of federal funding in some instances has left the widening in minor jeopardy, needing some $70 million, according to a Lehigh Valley Transportation Study completed in early July 2004, which calls for $257 million in road and bridge projects by 2008. But Kerry Wrobel, president of LVIP, says circumstances are not dire.
      "The federal dollars have been approved for the environmental assessment and start of final design of the road," he says. "What is not there at the moment is dollars set aside for construction." And in any case, those dollars will come in increments.
      Wrobel says the 192-acre (78-hectare) LVIP VI sold all its lots but one in a record four years. And LVIP's track record meant it needed to look for more land, as small companies look to LVIP for sites. Primary among LVIP VII's attributes is dual rail service (Norfolk Southern and Canadian Pacific) in combination with a short-line hauler. Then there's the 10-year tax abatement and around 10 billion gallons of available water nearby.