Here's some of what is going on along Route 61 in northern Berks County

Jul. 11—Construction of a 652,080-square-foot warehouse along Route 61 has been underway for several months and it is one of three large projects approved to be built along the corridor in Ontelaunee Township.

Crow Holdings Development of Dallas is the land owner and building the warehouse.

Adam McGill, director of communications for Crow Holdings, said the expected completion date is Jan. 1.

Township Supervisor Gary Hadden said that he had been told Crow already had a tenant lined up for the warehouse. However, McGill would not confirm that.

McGill said the warehouse is expected to create 350 full- and part-time jobs, but the exact number will be determined by which tenant ultimately occupies the space.

The land and projects

Crow subsidiary CHIPT Reading Ontelaunee LLC purchased five parcels totaling a little over 58 acres along Route 61 for $6.55 million from the Greater Berks Development Fund on Nov. 11, 2021, according to Berks County deed records.

The bulk of the land had previously been owned by the Kathryn M. Heffner Revocable Trust until 2019.

McGill did not reveal how much Crow Holdings Development is spending on building the warehouse.

The Crow Holdings land is bounded on the north by land owned by Reitnouer Real Estate LP, Route 61 on the west and the Maiden Creek on the southeast corner.

"The main traffic going to the warehouse will be coming off Route 73 onto Ontelaunee Drive and then down that road," Hadden said. "That corridor would be rebuilt, going to Crow Holdings. That will also accommodate Reitnouer Trailers."

Wiley's Lane bisects the land owned by Reitnouer, which has plans approved to build a 450,000-square-foot manufacturing facility for aluminum flatbed trailers and 18,000 square feet of office space. They have not broken ground on the project yet.

"We're the largest aluminum trailer manufacturer in North America," Bud Reitnouer, owner, president and CEO of Reitnouer Inc., said June 17.

Now the business is headquartered in Cumru Township and has a Birdsboro address. Reitnouer said Reitnouer Inc. also leases about 125,000 square feet in Muhlenberg Township.

In April 2021, Reitnouer Real Estate LP purchased nearly 68 acres at routes 61 and 73 from Greater Berks Development Fund for $6.5 million. The property had been sold by F & G Family Farm LP to Greater Berks Development Fund in December 2019. Wiley's Lane bisects the property.

"There'll be no additional traffic lights, but the area will be improved at the intersection of Ontelaunee Drive and Route 73," Hadden said. "That intersection will be improved and there will be some improvements at Route 61 and Route 73 to accommodate the volume of traffic."

Just north of the intersection of routes 61 and 73, there is another construction site on the opposite side of Route 61, next to Rutter's.

The 14-acre site is being developed into a Bobcat of Reading dealership by Crownstone Equipment of Hanover, York County. A Bobcat is a small piece of heavy equipment used for excavation and loading. Crownstone is a subsidiary of McGrew Equipment Co., of Seven Valleys, York County.

"Reading will be our sixth location," said Marissa Horsey, Crownstone Equipment's director of marketing, noting this is the first dealership they will be building from the ground up.

"Serving the construction, landscaping, agricultural, forestry and lawn and garden industries in Berks County has been something we have wanted to support since the beginning of Crownstone's existence," said Scott Kelly, executive vice president at Crownstone Equipment, in an email July 8. "Choosing the Reading area was a no-brainer as it is in the heart of Berks County."

Crownstone operates Bobcat dealerships in Adams, Lancaster and York counties and two in Maryland: Frederick and Hagerstown.

"Our goal is to be open by January 2023, but customers in the Reading area can already utilize our service through our Bobcat of Lancaster store," Horsey said via email.

She said 6 acres of the company's lot will be for a 12,000-square-foot building for sales and service.

"We are hoping to provide up to 15 new jobs to the Reading area including service technicians, sales staff and more," Horsey said in the email.

"The Bobcat franchise used to be part of Lift Inc.," Hadden said. "That franchise was taken over from Lift by York Bobcat. With their agreement, they had an obligation to put a brick and mortar building in Berks County and that's the site that they chose and that's what is under construction now.

According to county deed records, Pottsville Pike Properties LLC, another McGrew Equipment subsidiary, purchased the 14-acre lot next to Rutter's on Dec. 28, 2020, for $1.8 million from the Greater Berks Development Fund. The property had previously been owned by Berks Products Corp. until 2017.

Tax and traffic impact

Hadden welcomes the development in a municipality where he says 25% of the 6,000 acres in the township are tax exempt.

"As being a supervisor from the township, I have a tendency to be more in favor to see businesses establish a nice tax base for the township and also the school district without putting the strain on the school district with the number of students," Hadden said.

"For the township, I can say it would be great if we could develop a tax base that we would be able to decrease our taxes, but it's hard to say because every year costs are continuing to go up. At least with the increase of development and businesses, even if the costs go up, it won't increase our taxes any more because basically we'll be able to cover the new costs through the new tax."

David E. Moll, president of the Schuylkill Valley School Board, was less optimistic about the ability to lower taxes.

"The overall answer is going to be unknown, because until the building is built and the assessment comes through, whether there are interim bills or the actual bills come through, that's going to be unknown," Moll said. "It would be doubtful that it would result in lower Schuylkill Valley taxes, but at this point, we can't give an answer. ... Plus, typically these developments ask for reassessments and go through appeals. So that's happened frequently in our school district, so we're not counting on anything."

Moll explained that Crow Holdings had asked for Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance, or LERTA, after the project already was underway. That tax abatement was denied.

Hadden said Reitnouer Trailers successfully applied for a tax abatement plan and received a seven-year deal from the county, township and school district. The clock will start ticking once the construction has been completed and the property is assessed.

He said the Bobcat dealership did not receive a LERTA.

Bobcat of Reading will share an entrance with Rutter's off Route 61 southbound. It will also be accessible from New Enterprise Drive.

"The main traffic going to the warehouse will be coming off Route 73 onto Ontelaunee Drive and then down that road," Hadden said. "That corridor would be rebuilt, going to Crow Holdings. That will also accommodate Reitnouer Trailers."

Speaking as an individual and not for the school board as whole, Moll said he is concerned about increases in traffic next to the Schuylkill Valley campus.

"I'm concerned for our buses. I'm concerned for the parents. But I'm especially concerned for our youth drivers who will be coming onto and out of campus now having to interact with a larger volume of tractor trailers," he said.

Route 73 is going to be widened and Moll said the utility polls already have been moved.