Alvin H. Butz, one of the Lehigh Valley’s largest construction companies, has broken ground on a new project in Allentown. Phase II of the Butz Corporate Center is a $10 million building located on Hamilton Street. The 6 story, 50,000 square foot Class A office and retail space will bring approximately 150 jobs to the Allentown area. It follows on Phase I of Butz’s corporate center project, which opened in 2006 and is estimated to have created 200 jobs in the city.
The project is designed by Roberson Butz Architects and will be built by Alvin H. Butz. One of the goals of both the design and construction teams is to obtain Leadership in Environmental Design Certification for the work. Butz projects the project to be complete by the end of 2012 so that tenants can begin moving in by the beginning of 2013.
The Butz project joins the City’s signature project – the Allentown hockey arena – which is under construction at Hamilton and Seventh Streets. Don Cunningham, Lehigh County Executive and incoming president of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation, commented that the Butz Corporate Center and the hockey arena are designed to be part of a block by block effort to revitalize the area. The objective, according to everyone involved, is to attract investors to come back into the City. The hockey arena and Butz’s corporate center are the anchors to that effort.
With projects like this now on-line, there may be more opportunities for construction companies in the Lehigh Valley.
