Business News

A developer had little trouble earning Allentown zoning officials’ support Monday night after scaling back a proposal to convert offices to housing units.

Lehigh Valley International Airport saw its highest passenger traffic for May since 2004, with more than 85,000 passengers through the gates, a release said Monday.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce's LGBTQ Business Council on Tuesday held an event at the Mediterranean Grill in Bethlehem to teach people how to make workplaces and businesses more inclusive.

Home sale prices in Lehigh and Northampton counties neared all-time highs last month, with an average of $333,275 — up 5.8 percent from May 2023, according to the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors.

The Lehigh Valley ranks as the eighth-highest industrial market in the U.S., it was disclosed at a Lehigh Valley Planning Commission roundtable meeting on Friday.

County Manager Lamont McClure said in a statement that the union had approved the new agreement that came after a negotiation session Monday.

A continuance was granted for the sixth time this year to Paxos Group real estate company for a hearing before the Whitehall Township Zoning Hearing Board on charges it has violated a zoning ordinance prohibiting the renting or leasing of condominiums as apartments on Arey Lane.

Lowhill Township lost an appeal to a deemed approval for a warehouse plan on Betz Court. But about a week earlier, the state DEP preliminarily denied a permit for that same warehouse plan.

Rob Vaughn joined Channel 69 in 1987 and has anchored thousands of Lehigh Valley news programs. He announced his retirement to viewers in the 5 p.m. news broadcast Friday.

South Whitehall Planning Commission recommended final approval for Phase 1C of Ridge Farms, a development that would include housing, shops and outdoor eateries.

The $20 million mixed-use development is offering 75 apartments with one- and two-bedroom varieties among other things.

$2.5 million of renovations are completed for the Victory Firehouse in Southside Bethlehem as BSI Corporate Benefits' new headquarters. The renovations include modern office spaces, technology improvements, a new kitchen and re-adding firehouse-like garage doors.

Allentown officials and City Center representatives have said the new zoning regulations will lay the "framework" for the developer's ambitious plans.

Blackstone Structures’ Gary Newman said he considered refurbishing or moving the buildings in lieu of knocking them down, but those projects were too expensive and infeasible.

Another pediatric emergency room now is open in the Lehigh Valley. St. Luke’s University Health Network on Monday opened the Isaacman Family Children’s Emergency Room, after establishing a children’s hospital this past June.

The monthly report from the Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors shows home sales down 32 percent in September from September 2022. Low inventory and higher mortgage rates are to blame, officials say.

Pharmacy chain Rite Aid said late Sunday that it has filed for bankruptcy and now is focused on a restructuring plan that will close underperforming stores — including several in the Lehigh Valley.

Take a look at stories that ran throughout the week of which we are most proud, had a profound impact on readers or that you might want to look at again.

City planners voted 3-0 to approve land development plans for the hotel. The developer has a number of tasks to complete before receiving building permits.

Though Ideal Tower will have three fewer floors than the PPL Tower, it's set to stand 326 feet high — four feet taller than the iconic Allentown structure.

The Upper Macungie Planning Commission will discuss a plan for a manufacturing facility at 110 PA Route 100. A 150,000-square-foot warehouse has been proposed at the same site.

Western Lehigh Services, a commercial landscaping and snow management firm, is planning expansion into a new location in Lower Macungie Township.