WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Lehigh County Redevelopment Authority is looking for proposals to revitalize the former Lehigh Valley Dairy site.
The authority has announced a request for proposals for the dairy site, which it approved for development.
“This long-vacant property sits at a vital crossroads between Whitehall and Allentown and holds tremendous potential for regional revitalization,” state Sen. Nick Miller said in announcing the authority had issued a request for proposals.
“We’re one stop closer to turning this key site into a hub of economic activity."State Sen. Nick Miller
“With the RFP now live, we’re one step closer to turning this key site into a hub of economic activity," Miller said.
The property includes two adjacent parcels of vacant commercial land at 1026 MacArthur Road and 845 Sumner Avenue in Whitehall Township.
The parcels are viewed as one economic unit and will be marketed collectively.
Bids to develop the property must be submitted by Sept. 4 in a sealed envelope addressed to the Elias Property Group.
'Tremendous potential for regional revitalization'
The property housed a silk mill from 1920 until 1934, when 300 local farmers created the Lehigh Valley Cooperative Farmers Group and opened their first manufacturing facility in Allentown in 1934, amid the Great Depression.
More than 450 farmers joined Lehigh Valley Dairy — which earned the moniker “American’s Most Beautiful Dairy” — in its first decade. A significant expansion followed over the next few years.
But it shut down its Allentown plant by 1989, laying off most of the 200 employees who worked there.
The property at 1045 MacArthur Road was listed for sale in 1990 and most of the plant’s equipment was sold off.
The site was vacant for many years before it was subdivided and part was sold to Elias Property Group. The group demolished its blighted buildings in 2024.
Miller said he’s confident the Redevelopment Authority will receive “strong community-driven proposals” for the “long-vacant property [that] sits at a vital crossroads between Whitehall and Allentown.”
The site “holds tremendous potential for regional revitalization,” he said.
