The Berks County Industrial Development Authority (BerksIDA) is excited to announce the start of infrastructure construction at Berks Park 183, its new industrial park adjacent to the Reading Airport. Once complete, the shovel-ready site will accommodate up to 816,000 square feet of light to medium industrial space on a 55-acre campus and create new opportunities for business recruitment and job creation for the Reading area.
Work includes running all utility infrastructure into the site, creating necessary stormwater improvements, widening Aviation Road to safely accommodate traffic, and adding turning lanes on 183 to allow safe access into and out of the site. Total project costs will exceed $7 million and support 40-50 jobs during the construction season. Construction managers for the intersection and site work are Blue Rock Construction manages the site work and Traffic Planning and Design manages the intersection improvements.
Says Tom McKeon, BerksIDA Executive Director, “We believe with construction this summer Berks Park 183 will finally check all the boxes on any developer’s wish list – workforce, market proximity, access, and now infrastructure. Based on activity in the past 45 days alone, we expect this site to quickly reawaken with economic activity.”
$3.7 million of the work is funded through state grants for road improvements and rehabilitation of the site, which previously served as a military base during WWII. “We are especially grateful to the commonwealth, which made it possible for us to take an abandoned and unproductive site in the region and put it to work once again for Berks County and its residents,” says Jeremy Zaborowski, Deputy Director.
Joe Eways, Board Chairman, emphasized that, “the board felt that, in light of the devastating impact of Covid-19 on the county and country, it was especially important we move forward and do our part to put people back to work in Berks County now while also setting the county up for future recovery opportunities. We are betting on Reading and see great things to come for the region. This improvement will enable the site to support hundreds of jobs and return it to the tax rolls after decades of sitting in the hands of various tax-exempt federal and local authorities.”
BerksIDA was established by the County Commissioners for the public purpose of alleviating unemployment, maintaining employment at a high level, eliminating and preventing blight, and creating and developing business opportunities by the construction, improvement, rehabilitation, revitalization and financing of industrial, commercial, manufacturing, research and development enterprises.
Interested developers should contact Jeff Williams ([email protected]) at Jones Lang LaSalle for additional information.
If you would like more information about the Berks County Industrial Development Authority, please go to www.berksida.com.
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