J.G. Petrucci Co. Inc. has expanded its industrial portfolio with the acquisition of two properties on Snowdrift Road in Upper Macungie Township.

Commercial real estate experts were expecting 2020s industrial development boom to continue, but Mike Hess, senior vice president of CBRE in the Harrisburg office said industrial development along the I-78/I-81 corridor was even stronger than expected during the first quarter of the year.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, growth in the e-commerce, logistics and transportation industries, which were already booming in the Lehigh Valley, has gone full tilt.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented online shopping for holiday gifts and supplies. But as anyone who has ever given or received a Christmas present knows – returns are an inevitable part of the process.

Surabhi Kejriwal, associate vice president and real estate research leader for Deloitte, said 2020 has been one of the most interesting years she’s seen on the economy and in commercial real estate.

CBRE kicked off a major leasing campaign for a 13-building industrial park in Upper Mount Bethel Township that is being billed as the largest planned industrial park along the Eastern Seaboard.

While the shutdown of real estate and construction in Pennsylvania from the COVID-19 pandemic may have slowed the market, a report by CBRE shows that the Greater Lehigh Valley and surrounding regions retained a robust commercial real estate activity during the second quarter.

Jaindl Land Co. broke ground Wednesday on a commercial office building at 6161 Hamilton Boulevard in Lower Macungie Township that will serve as office space for Buckeye Partners. Buckeye, a global petroleum company, currently has two corporate office locations, one in Houston, Texas and one In Breinigsville, in Tek Park.

LogistiCenter at 33 in Forks Township has been sold for $62.5 million.

The greater Lehigh Valley region is well positioned for the future of commercial real estate according to a report by CBRE looking at the Northeast U.S. market.