At the end of December, LVIP bought 1,000 acres at the former Bethlehem Steel site for $4 million from Cleveland-based International Steel Group, which had acquired the bankrupt steel giant's assets. Redevelopment of the entire site is expected to cost $1.5 billion.

The first phase, scheduled to begin in April, is for the Saucon Tract, which has suffered the least environmental contamination. Kerry Wrobel, LVIP president, says his organization is currently negotiating with industrial clients that would occupy approximately a third of the Saucon site.

Meanwhile, Rendell awaits passage of a proposed $2.2-billion economic development bond. He will devote $300 million of the funds to redevelopment of abandoned industrial sites, including the Bethlehem Steel land, which is the largest privately owned brownfield site in the nation. When fully developed, the 1,000 acres, which represent 20% of the City of Bethlehem's taxable land, are expected to create 6,000 jobs and generate an annual payroll of $210 million.

LVIP is a community-owned, non-profit economic development corporation. It has built six industrial parks encompassing more than 1,500 acres in Lehigh County since its inception in 1959. The Bethlehem Steel property, LVIP VII, is its most ambitious project to date.