Thode: If Not Homes and Warehouses, Jaindl Will Construct Quarry

Few know real estate in the Lehigh Valley better than Stephen F. Thode, director of  Lehigh University’s Murray H. Goodman Center for Real Estate Studies since its creation in 1988.

Thode was appointed director of ire@1-Integrated (Integrated Real Estate at Lehigh) in 2005, where he‘s responsible for the execution of Goodman programs, including teaching, research and professional interactions.

He teaches real estate finance, corporate financial management and real estate investing.

So the question at hand is: will David Jaindl be successful in his plans
to develop  600-plus acres of mostly Lower Macungie farmland into 4 million square feet of warehouses, 700 homes, a 443,000-square-foot shopping center, a convenience store with 16 gasoline pumps and a sit-down restaurant?

“If Jaindl doesn’t get this development, he’ll go to the quarry,“ Thode
predicted in a recent interview.

The development division of the turkey farming company had proposed -- and gotten approval by the township -- housing and warehouses on the property. But the first initative for Lower Macungie zoning officers was a 700-plus acre quarry.

Neighbors and environmental groups reacted negatively and will address the township’s zoning board at 6:30 p.m. July 14 in the second-floor meeting room of the Lower Macungie Township Building on Brookside Road.

Thode said it's not so much his opinion, it‘s past experience in such
projects in the Lehigh Valley.

“This tactic of proposing a use that people don’t like, and then changing the use is something developers do all the time,“ Thode said.

-- When New Jersey developer Jim Petrucci spent $3 million to buy the
34-acre lot that had been the Durkee Spice Plant in Bethlehem in 2002, he originally wanted to build a Lowe’s Home Improvement Center, Thode said.

But when the city failed to give approval, Petrucci came up with an auto auction and reconditioning center with 1,700 vehicles called Bethlehem Car Country.

When neighbors organized a protest against the cars, Petrucci turned around and successfully proposed Lowe’s, which was in place by 2008.

“It took Petrucci years and legal fees to build Lowe‘s,’’ Thode said.  “But he did it.”

-- Jaindl  has a similar track record.

When groups formed to protest a Hanover Township, Northampton County, housing development in 1999, Jaindl proposed ripping up plans and building barns for Jaindl’s turkeys.

Seven years later, Jaindl had his houses.

“This puts the township and zoning officials in an awkward position,” Thode said. “Nobody wants a quarry or turkey farm or cars or drug facility…They really don‘t have any good choices.’’

In the Lower Macungie case, at least it’s only a major home and warehouse development vs. quarry.

Or how about a third choice? Nothing?