LOWER MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. — Lower Macungie commissioners heard updates Monday on plans for the region’s first Sprouts Farmers Market and two other commercial buildings along Route 100.
A final vote is set for next month.
The Jaindl Land Company plans to build a bank, a 23,400-square-foot “retail center” and the first Lehigh Valley outpost of Sprouts, a Phoenix, Arizona-based natural grocery store chain, at 2550 Route 100, near Sauerkraut Lane.
If approved, the new buildings would rise beside an existing St. Luke’s medical office building at the same address.Jaindl Land Company plans
Along with the new buildings, Jaindl plans to overhaul stormwater infrastructure serving the site, preparing for increased runoff from the new development.
The developer has not yet found potential tenants for the bank or retail center, and the Jaindl Land Company’s plans for the site may shift depending on future tenants’ requirements.
Any major deviation from approved plans would mean returning to township planning officials for permission.
If approved, the new buildings would rise beside an existing St. Luke’s medical office building at the same address.
'A really special development'
When the developer’s representatives appeared before Lower Macungie’s planning commission earlier this month, commissioners praised the project for carrying over the same design philosophy from the St. Luke’s building.
“What was brought up particularly was the quality of the St. Luke's site and asking for that to continue,” township Planner Nathan Jones said.
“The applicants have recognized the importance of creating a really special development here at this intersection.”
The planning commission also pushed the developer to expand its traffic analysis to better account for weekend daytime peaks in traffic driven by shoppers.
Developers also plan to add a network of pedestrian and bike paths to the site, letting residents of nearby neighborhoods access the grocery store and other tenants without using a car.
At this point, plans for the site are unlikely to change substantially, McAdams said.
Customers would access the new development from the Sauerkraut Lane extension, which has not been built.
Township officials made clear that Sprouts will not get a certificate of occupancy until the extension is complete, township Engineer Bryan McAdam said.
The extension, a collaboration between Jaindl Land Company and logistics behemoth Prologis, has been in the works for more than a decade.