Valley will rise after the pandemic More warehouse development
As we enter the fifth month of a global pandemic that’s changed the way we do almost everything, it would be easy to focus only on the now because it’s going to take all of our strength to get through this trying time.
But I would urge everyone to at least keep one eye to the future, because we will eventually come out of this, and the Lehigh Valley as we know it will never be the same. How we plan for our new normal will determine how well prepared we are for what’s coming.
Impacts of COVID-19 change quickly, as is evident by a pandemic page on the LVPC website that logs new Lehigh Valley infections and deaths daily. It’s difficult to predict exactly what the post-pandemic will look like. But let’s dip a toe into this pool of uncertainty to look ahead at some things we can expect.
More mixed-use neighborhoods sooner
The pandemic is hastening the transition of our retail model away from brick-and-mortar stores and toward online purchasing, home deliveries and curbside pick-ups. That’s going to leave a lot of empty strip malls and shopping malls. We can look at this as an opportunity to transition those spaces into mixed-use neighborhoods that include housing, job centers and sustainably sized shopping and services.
We predicted this in our 2019 release of “FutureLV: The Regional Plan.” It’s just going to get here sooner. The often-cited “retail apocalypse” is happening now, not the decades we expected six months ago. Municipal leaders should consider rezoning those districts to allow for a mix of uses, giving developers the incentive to begin considering more of those kinds of diverse developments.
Whether you love them or hate them, more online buying means more logis
tics centers. With more than 33 million square feet of warehouse space approved by local governments since 2013, the Lehigh Valley has been a national epicenter for distribution center development in recent years. But after a flurry of new development from 2016-18, new warehouse projects had begun to plateau over the past two years.
With analysts predicting an 18% increase in online sales this year alone — even during historic unemployment — many people forced into online buying during the pandemic are expected to stick with it. We believe that will translate to another surge in warehouse projects in the Lehigh Valley, and we have already seen new logistics center proposals to build up to 15 stories high and redevelop existing industrial sites.
While redevelopment and more efficient use of land is generally positive, the skylines and traffic impacts will intensify. This will largely impact suburban communities, creating an urbanscale freight condition in lowerdensity areas.
It will be important for municipal and regional leaders to work to make sure these massive structures are built for the future — with green roofs, energy efficiency, truck parking — and are located in areas where the roads and sewer and water infrastructure can handle them.