Philadelphia, PA-Allen Distribution, a third party provider of transportation and warehouse logistics, has purchased a 580,000 square foot distribution facility at 3041 Schoeneck Rd. in the Lehigh Valley. The purchase price was $22 million.

A team from Jones Lang LaSalle’s Philadelphia office represented Allen Distribution in the deal. That JLL team included VPs Kim Meincke and Jason Webb and managing directors John Van Buskirk and Brian Knowles. CB Richard Ellis represented the seller, Panattoni Development Co., but did not provide broker names in time for publication.

Kim Meincke, tells GlobeSt.com that the deal signals strong fundamentals in an area that has seen extremely high absorption the past year.

“The Lehigh Valley has extremely good distribution fundamentals,” Meincke says. “It puts companies who either need to distribute into the New York City metropolitan markets--or really more the northeast corridor--in a good spot, with access to great transportation and the various trucking and transportation modes and it’s got a very strong workforce.” Those facts combined, Meincke says, to help the area stay active during the downturn, and they're keeping it busy now.

The Schoeneck Road facility that sold is part of the Lehigh Valley Crossings industrial park, which has been approved for 1.2 million square feet of class A warehouse distribution space. Panattoni bought it in 2009 after the previous owner stalled, and began constructing the first of the three buildings to go on the site.

“This acquisition allows Allen Distribution to expand into a new market, enhance our service offerings to our existing customers, and tap into a new customer base,” Ryan Heishman, a VP at Allen Distribution said in a prepared statement.

According to Meincke, Heishman’s statement puts the company in line with distribution companies looking to better serve their customer base by taking advantage of the fundamentals in place in the area. This is one reason that available space has become so tight.

“As little of twelve to thirteen months ago there were no leases in that location,” she says of the one mile radius in which 3041 Schoeneck Rd. sits. “As of today there is only one small space available.”