The SunCap Property Group aquired 35 acres of Berks Park 183, BerksIDA’s newest industrial park, adjacent to the Reading Airport, for the purpose of creating a last-mile distribution warehouse. Investment is expected to exceed $40 million and will create nearly 200 jobs. Construction is slated to begin immediately with a completion and occupancy date of late 2022.
Once complete, the facility will generate an additional $1 million in annual property taxes for Berks County, Bern Township and Schuylkill Valley School District, in addition to any payroll tax benefit to the state and local taxing bodies.
SunCap is a privately held, national commercial real estate development, investment and advisory firm that specializes in development of build-to-suit facilities for large corporate clients. While a tenant for the site has been identified, SunCap cannot disclose them at this time.
“This is a huge win for Berks County,” said Commissioners Chair Christian Y. Leinbach. “We are proud of the role BerksIDA and the County played to develop a problem site that was vacant for more than 80 years into a job generator for our community. In addition, since the site is in close proximity to downtown Reading, it will provide more job opportunities for workers who rely on or prefer to use public transportation.”
“It is projects like this that make us proud to serve on BerksIDA’s board,” said Board Chairman Jim Adams. “Our focus on developing challenging sites is paying real dividends to Berks County and its residents.”
Jeremy Zaborowski, BerksIDA Executive Director added, “I want to thank all of those involved in getting us to where we are today. Berks Park 183 was a nearly decade-long project that required support from all levels of government as well as countless community partners. I am thrilled to see these collective efforts start to pay off for Berks County. SunCap has been a great partner and their project will serve as an anchor to Berks Park 183.”
During the pandemic BerksIDA took the leap to install the final $7.5M in infrastructure needed to make the $17 million industrial park shovel-ready. Success would not have been possible without support from many partners – Pennsylvania, PennDOT, Berks County, the Redevelopment Authority, Greater Reading Chamber Alliance and Bern Township, to name a few.
BerksIDA’s mission is to promote collaborative, long-term, quality job creation and retention in Berks County through site development, redevelopment and support, financing programs, and access to government funding.
