BETHLEHEM, PA-Morris Bethlehem Associates LP obtained a $47-million mortgage to buy Southmont Shopping Center and another $37 million in permanent financing for the property. Southmont is a 248,948-sf, 96% leased community retail center shadow-anchored by a Lowe's Home Center. Tenants include Bed Bath & Beyond, Pier 1 Imports, Barnes & Noble, Dick's Sporting Goods, Michael's and Panera Bread.

James Gunning, a senior director in the Saddle Brook, NJ office of LJ Melody & Co., along with Robert Krawiecki, VP in the company's Philadelphia office, secured the funding for this transaction and represented the buyer. The lender is CIBC World Markets Corp., which is based in Toronto and has offices throughout the US. Bruce Meland, VP of LJ Melody's Minneapolis office, represented the seller, whose identity is undisclosed.

This acquisition is one of several recent signs that the retail market in the Lehigh Valley is heating up. Southmont is across from a site on which Birmingham, AL-based Bayer Properties plans Summit Lehigh Valley, a development that will include 800,000 sf of retail, 500,000 sf of office space, up to 800 residential units and a hospital and medical suites.

Meanwhile, Starbucks, which has a café presence in the Barnes & Noble at Southmont, but no freestanding unit in the Lehigh Valley, recently inked a lease with Purchase, NY-based National Realty & Development Corp. for its first freestanding unit in the valley at Northampton Crossing Shopping Center in nearby Easton. The 1,200-sf unit is scheduled to open in February.

The 624,032-2f Northampton Crossing is currently expanding with a 77,000-sf addition to its existing Wal-Mart, turning that unit into the retailer's supercenter format aggregating 207,000 sf. Completion is scheduled this spring. With the exception of an outparcel, available for construction of up to 12,500 sf, Northampton Crossings is 100% leased. Among the tenants are Sam's Club, Kohl's, Redners and Regal Cinemas.