ARTICLE
The small town of Hellertown could be on the cusp of something big. Efforts of borough officials and local merchants, the opening of a new office building, construction of a housing development and the completion of a massive, multiyear road project are spearheading what could be an economic revival in Hellertown. “There's a lot going on here,” said Robert Grim, who is opening a brewery and taproom in town. “… We want to shine a little bit of light here. Lately, there's kind of a swell of enthusiasm that's happening.” The August end of the long-awaited widening of Route 412, which cuts through Hellertown and Bethlehem and links to Interstate 78, should help spur activity and foot traffic for the many businesses on the borough's Main Street. The completion later this month of a new medical office building on Main Street will draw new workers and visitors, as has the opening of several establishments. Meanwhile, hundreds of new residents to the area are expected with the start of construction on an upscale housing project at Silver Creek Country Club in neighboring Lower Saucon Township. Also, the borough has an overlooked gem in the development of a long-dormant industrial site near the Route 412 intersection with I-78, which could become a strategic asset for growth. All of these elements combine to create an intriguing, compelling portrait of a borough on the brink of brisk business expansion. “We have to get the word out that Hellertown is open for business,” said Mark Albright, a Hellertown attorney and the facilitator of Hellertown's Marketing Initiative, a group of volunteers who market the borough as a place to do business. In 2015, borough officials began roundtables with merchants to field their ideas and concerns. The meetings, sponsored by the Hellertown-Lower Saucon Chamber of Commerce, sparked discussion and shed light on the disruption caused by the expansion of Route 412, which is also Main Street in the borough. The $38 million state Department of Transportation project, which began in 2012, included expanding and rebuilding the road through Hellertown and Bethlehem. When completed, the road will have expanded from two to five lanes from the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, through Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII at Bethlehem Commerce Center, to the Hellertown border at Interstate 78. “For all intents and purposes, everything should be opened and operating the way it's planned to be by the end of August,” said Ron Young, spokesman for PennDOT. By the middle of November, all final work, including plantings, seeding and cleanup, should be finished, he added. The Route 412 project cannot end soon enough for merchants. Aside from creating lengthy traffic delays and headaches for travelers, construction has absorbed vital parking spaces normally used for businesses. Frey's Better Foods, a mainstay in the same Main Street location for 25 years, got back its parking spaces at the end of April. The spaces at the front of the health food store had been taken up by road construction since May 2013, according to co-owner Bruce Haas. While customers could still park in the back, it represented an inconvenience, said Haas, who owns the specialty grocery store with his wife, Diane. “It's already been helping us,” he said of the restored parking. “… As long as they can keep the highway open for us, I think it will help us, and we see a lot of new businesses coming in.” With the Route 412 construction nearly complete, businesses appear eager to re-emerge. Albright said his Hellertown Marketing Initiative is creating a website, “gotohellertown.com.” With 22,000 vehicles traveling through Main Street each day, borough officials want to capture some of that traffic by hanging a banner over the street that advertises the new website. The group also plans to develop a hashtag on Twitter to increase its social media reach. “A lot of our initiatives over the past 10 years have been done to get more people out on the street,” said Cathy Hartranft, borough manager. “From the borough standpoint, we've changed some zoning from industrial to trail-oriented overlay” – which encourages flexibility in development. Retail and, to a lesser extent, office, make up the bulk of the business district. The former Champion Spark Plug Co. manufacturing site, vacant since 1986, is a major industrial property along Route 412 near the interchange with I-78 that the borough hopes will get redeveloped. “At least two to three times per month, there's an inquiry about that property,” Hartranft said. “We would really like to see some retail with residential.” The borough has rezoned the property from industrial to flexible redevelopment overlay, Hartranft said. The property has added significance since its rear abuts Saucon Rail Trail, a pedestrian path that ends in Coopersburg and will eventually connect to South Bethlehem, an amenity that could further economic growth. Meanwhile, the new medical office building for Lehigh Valley Health Network across from borough hall, expected to open this month, is bringing more office and medical professionals to Hellertown. The variety of businesses that opened and those that have been there awhile have contributed to the town's growth. Dr. James Newman recently opened a dental practice and day spa in a former movie theater, while YoFresh Yogurt Café and the Hellertown Bakery represent new businesses that bring more people working and shopping to the borough. The borough's first brewery is expected to open in June across from National Penn Bank on Main Street. The owners of Lost Tavern Brewing are taking a long-dormant auto dealership and transforming the 5,000-square-foot building into a brewery with a bar and taproom, said Grim, president of Lost River Brewing. The brewery will renovate its outdoor patio area to create extra seating on the sidewalk and build a glass accordion-style door for its entrance. The business is owned by Grim, Anthony Gangi, brewer and vice president of operations, Ken Rampolla, CEO and owner of the building, Rampolla's son, Kenny, vice president of sales and marketing, and Chris Rafferty, a consultant and master brewer. The brewery has a partnership with Bella's Ristorante, an Italian restaurant on Main Street in Hellertown, to deliver food to the tap room, Grim said. To create a more social atmosphere, the brewery will have a few televisions but incorporate more games to bring back that lost tavern-feel. “The experience should be about great beer and friends,” Grim said. Residents at the Silver Creek Country Club housing development could spur even more economic growth in Hellertown. Spirk Brothers Inc., a Bethlehem Township developer, is looking to build more than 100 homes on country club land. About 220 acres of the land are in Lower Saucon, a township that's mainly rural, and about 60 acres are in Hellertown. All homes would be built in Lower Saucon. “We are still in the planning stage with the borough of Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township,” said David Spirk, developer of the Silver Creek project. “We expect to get our approvals and then break ground sometime in mid-year 2017.” Once complete, the project would benefit taxpayers of Lower Saucon Township and businesses in Hellertown, particularly on Main Street, he added. Jessica O'Donnell, Emmaus Main Street manager and vice president of Affiliated Chambers of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, said business owners in Hellertown want more retail in town. “One of the challenges that Main Street has is our street is so long, about a mile-and-a-half and linear,” Hartranft said. Borough officials are thinking of developing districts to encourage similar businesses to locate together, a strategy that could bring synergies to merchants who offer related products or services. “We are actively bringing local business people closer together,” Albright said. “We've got to let each other know what the borough has to offer. I think we've made a really good start on that.” The Hellertown-Lower Saucon Chamber can use the marketing efforts of the larger Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber, O'Donnell said. “The tie with the community and business leaders is unreal,” she said. “These people are living, playing and staying in Hellertown.” Read the article here.
The small town of Hellertown could be on the cusp of something big.
Efforts of borough officials and local merchants, the opening of a new office building, construction of a housing development and the completion of a massive, multiyear road project are spearheading what could be an economic revival in Hellertown.
“There's a lot going on here,” said Robert Grim, who is opening a brewery and taproom in town. “… We want to shine a little bit of light here. Lately, there's kind of a swell of enthusiasm that's happening.”
The August end of the long-awaited widening of Route 412, which cuts through Hellertown and Bethlehem and links to Interstate 78, should help spur activity and foot traffic for the many businesses on the borough's Main Street.
The completion later this month of a new medical office building on Main Street will draw new workers and visitors, as has the opening of several establishments. Meanwhile, hundreds of new residents to the area are expected with the start of construction on an upscale housing project at Silver Creek Country Club in neighboring Lower Saucon Township.
Also, the borough has an overlooked gem in the development of a long-dormant industrial site near the Route 412 intersection with I-78, which could become a strategic asset for growth.
All of these elements combine to create an intriguing, compelling portrait of a borough on the brink of brisk business expansion.
“We have to get the word out that Hellertown is open for business,” said Mark Albright, a Hellertown attorney and the facilitator of Hellertown's Marketing Initiative, a group of volunteers who market the borough as a place to do business.
In 2015, borough officials began roundtables with merchants to field their ideas and concerns.
The meetings, sponsored by the Hellertown-Lower Saucon Chamber of Commerce, sparked discussion and shed light on the disruption caused by the expansion of Route 412, which is also Main Street in the borough.
The $38 million state Department of Transportation project, which began in 2012, included expanding and rebuilding the road through Hellertown and Bethlehem. When completed, the road will have expanded from two to five lanes from the Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem, through Lehigh Valley Industrial Park VII at Bethlehem Commerce Center, to the Hellertown border at Interstate 78.
“For all intents and purposes, everything should be opened and operating the way it's planned to be by the end of August,” said Ron Young, spokesman for PennDOT. By the middle of November, all final work, including plantings, seeding and cleanup, should be finished, he added.
The Route 412 project cannot end soon enough for merchants.
Aside from creating lengthy traffic delays and headaches for travelers, construction has absorbed vital parking spaces normally used for businesses.
Frey's Better Foods, a mainstay in the same Main Street location for 25 years, got back its parking spaces at the end of April. The spaces at the front of the health food store had been taken up by road construction since May 2013, according to co-owner Bruce Haas.
While customers could still park in the back, it represented an inconvenience, said Haas, who owns the specialty grocery store with his wife, Diane.
“It's already been helping us,” he said of the restored parking. “… As long as they can keep the highway open for us, I think it will help us, and we see a lot of new businesses coming in.”
With the Route 412 construction nearly complete, businesses appear eager to re-emerge.
Albright said his Hellertown Marketing Initiative is creating a website, “gotohellertown.com.”
With 22,000 vehicles traveling through Main Street each day, borough officials want to capture some of that traffic by hanging a banner over the street that advertises the new website. The group also plans to develop a hashtag on Twitter to increase its social media reach.
“A lot of our initiatives over the past 10 years have been done to get more people out on the street,” said Cathy Hartranft, borough manager. “From the borough standpoint, we've changed some zoning from industrial to trail-oriented overlay” – which encourages flexibility in development.
Retail and, to a lesser extent, office, make up the bulk of the business district.
The former Champion Spark Plug Co. manufacturing site, vacant since 1986, is a major industrial property along Route 412 near the interchange with I-78 that the borough hopes will get redeveloped.
“At least two to three times per month, there's an inquiry about that property,” Hartranft said. “We would really like to see some retail with residential.”
The borough has rezoned the property from industrial to flexible redevelopment overlay, Hartranft said.
The property has added significance since its rear abuts Saucon Rail Trail, a pedestrian path that ends in Coopersburg and will eventually connect to South Bethlehem, an amenity that could further economic growth.
Meanwhile, the new medical office building for Lehigh Valley Health Network across from borough hall, expected to open this month, is bringing more office and medical professionals to Hellertown.
The variety of businesses that opened and those that have been there awhile have contributed to the town's growth.
Dr. James Newman recently opened a dental practice and day spa in a former movie theater, while YoFresh Yogurt Café and the Hellertown Bakery represent new businesses that bring more people working and shopping to the borough.
The borough's first brewery is expected to open in June across from National Penn Bank on Main Street.
The owners of Lost Tavern Brewing are taking a long-dormant auto dealership and transforming the 5,000-square-foot building into a brewery with a bar and taproom, said Grim, president of Lost River Brewing.
The brewery will renovate its outdoor patio area to create extra seating on the sidewalk and build a glass accordion-style door for its entrance.
The business is owned by Grim, Anthony Gangi, brewer and vice president of operations, Ken Rampolla, CEO and owner of the building, Rampolla's son, Kenny, vice president of sales and marketing, and Chris Rafferty, a consultant and master brewer.
The brewery has a partnership with Bella's Ristorante, an Italian restaurant on Main Street in Hellertown, to deliver food to the tap room, Grim said.
To create a more social atmosphere, the brewery will have a few televisions but incorporate more games to bring back that lost tavern-feel.
“The experience should be about great beer and friends,” Grim said.
Residents at the Silver Creek Country Club housing development could spur even more economic growth in Hellertown.
Spirk Brothers Inc., a Bethlehem Township developer, is looking to build more than 100 homes on country club land.
About 220 acres of the land are in Lower Saucon, a township that's mainly rural, and about 60 acres are in Hellertown. All homes would be built in Lower Saucon.
“We are still in the planning stage with the borough of Hellertown and Lower Saucon Township,” said David Spirk, developer of the Silver Creek project. “We expect to get our approvals and then break ground sometime in mid-year 2017.”
Once complete, the project would benefit taxpayers of Lower Saucon Township and businesses in Hellertown, particularly on Main Street, he added.
Jessica O'Donnell, Emmaus Main Street manager and vice president of Affiliated Chambers of the Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce, said business owners in Hellertown want more retail in town.
“One of the challenges that Main Street has is our street is so long, about a mile-and-a-half and linear,” Hartranft said.
Borough officials are thinking of developing districts to encourage similar businesses to locate together, a strategy that could bring synergies to merchants who offer related products or services.
“We are actively bringing local business people closer together,” Albright said. “We've got to let each other know what the borough has to offer. I think we've made a really good start on that.”
The Hellertown-Lower Saucon Chamber can use the marketing efforts of the larger Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber, O'Donnell said.
“The tie with the community and business leaders is unreal,” she said. “These people are living, playing and staying in Hellertown.” Read the article here.