Developer Offers To Buy 500 Acres Of Bethlehem Steel Land
Dow Jones Newswires - September 5, 2002

BETHLEHEM, Pa. (AP) -- A California developer has offered $18.8 million to purchase about 500 acres of Bethlehem Steel Corp. (BHMSQ) land in Pennsylvania for business and industrial development, according to court documents filed Tuesday.

If the deal with Majestic Realty goes through, it could rejuvenate the area in south Bethlehem with office buildings, warehouses, commercial centers and thousands of jobs, officials said.

Majestic filed documents offering to buy a third of the brownfields with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of New York. Bethlehem Steel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October.

City officials said this is just the kind of buyer they have been looking for to redevelop the 1,600-acre Bethlehem Commerce Center.

"We look at this as a new 500-acre employment district in south Bethlehem," said Bethlehem Mayor Don Cunningham. "When Bethlehem Steel started shutting down, this is exactly the type of development we all hoped would replace our lost tax base."

The sale requires court approval, which could happen in about 60 days. But the whole process might take as long as 18 months because some of the land must be approved by the state Department of Environmental Resources.

Majestic Vice President Thomas Cozzolino said developing the space should take seven to 10 years.

"This is a big first step, but this isn't going to happen overnight," Cozzolino said. "We are not a company that buys land and flips it to someone else. We like what the Lehigh Valley has to offer. We're in this for the long haul."

Majestic operates business around the nation, including the Staples Center in Los Angeles.