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BETHLEHEM, PA-Bowe Bell & Howell and FedEx Ground Package System Inc. lease an aggregate of 136,400 sf in the recently completed 235,600-sf warehouse distribution facility in Bethlehem Crossings Industrial Park. This is the second of three similar-size buildings planned here by Plymouth Meeting-based Opus East, the Mid-Atlantic subsidiary of Opus Group.

In addition to its seven-year lease for 62,000 sf in Bethlehem Crossings II, Bowe Bell & Howell also was an initial tenant in Bethlehem Crossings I, where it occupies approximately 65,600 sf. It moved into that building, which is now 100% leased, in November 2004.

The FedEx lease in this second building is for 74,400 sf for a five-year term. Fisher & Co. of Pittsburgh negotiated the lease for the tenant. C. Craig Guers, SVP and general manager of Opus East, represented the owner in both new leases. He initially declined to disclose the aggregate value or rental rate for either lease. Asked if the rate was over $4 per sf, he tells GlobeSt.com, "way over. It's closer to $5 per sf."

Guers says the agreements "confirm that the demand for new industrial space on the east side of the Lehigh Valley has not slackened." Further confirmation comes from plans for Bethlehem Crossings III, which will also contain approximately 235,000 sf. "The design is finished," he says. "We plan to break ground in March 2006 and reach completion within six to seven months after that, by fall 2006."

Instant Insights /

Two Tenants Take 60% of Bethlehem Crossing II

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