Building Description

Type: Office – Class A         Size: Existing: 11,450 RSF + Expansion: 7,889 RSF = Total: 19,339 RSF

Year Built: 1992 – Renovated 2006

Location: Located in Lehigh Valley Corporate Center, a Class “A” office park located in Hanover Township, PA, a ¼ mile north of Route 22 and Lehigh Valley Hospital Muhlenberg and directly off Schoenersville Road.

Case Study: Dunn Twiggar acquired this Class “A” Office property at the end of 2005. The property was originally developed by Bethlehem Steel to serve as their Family Health Center. Bethlehem Steel declared bankruptcy in 2003, which left the building vacant for several years. Dunn Twiggar first approached this property because of its Class “A” location and building quality. During our analysis we determined three key factors that would provide us the opportunity to add significant value;

• the existing building was much smaller than what the building to land ratio would permit;
• the high quality finishes of the existing building would be attractive to end users;
• the strong market for professional office condominiums.

Plans for the expansion were started immediately after the purchase of the site. The design of the expansion needed to be functional, flexible to multiple users, and had to have the same strong aesthetics as the existing building. We choose to not maximize the permitted build-able area but decided to strategically expand the building in several areas, including enclosing the existing porte-cochere, to provide a layout that took best advantage of the site and existing improvements.

The existing building and the expansion were subdivided into professional office condominiums and offered for sale or lease.

Through our integrated design and construction process, we worked with several condo buyers to make sure that their precise needs were met within the time frames they desired.

Today, Dunn Twiggar has sold 80% of the available space at prices above or at market and leased the remaining space to itself and Lehigh Valley Hospital on a long term lease.

While DTC still retains this asset, the return on initial investment is calculated as in excess of 100%.