The Waterfront has become a sought-after Allentown address for businesses that want a Class A building, a riverfront setting, and the financial framework of the Neighborhood Improvement Zone (NIZ) in one place. As the district fills in, a clear picture is emerging of why companies choose to plant a flag here. Here is what draws them, and what they find once they arrive.
Start with the building. 615 Waterfront is a six-story Class A office building of roughly 120,000 square feet, designed for natural light and direct views of the Lehigh River, with ground-floor retail and dining below the office floors. It is the kind of space that helps a growing company recruit and keep talent, which is often the first thing a tenant mentions.
The NIZ is the financial backbone. Allentown’s Neighborhood Improvement Zone, created in 2012 and authorized through 2042, redirects certain state and local taxes generated inside the zone toward financing development within it. That structure is a major reason a riverfront district can offer Class A space at a competitive cost, and it is part of why downtown Allentown has drawn more than $1 billion in new investment.
Then there is the setting, which does real work. Tenants at The Waterfront are steps from the River Walk, a trail along the Lehigh River, and parks and open space built into the district. A riverfront lunch walk is a small thing that compounds: it is good for focus, good for morale, and good for the kind of in-person culture companies are rebuilding.
The district is also a community, not just a collection of leases. Shared outdoor space, ground-floor dining, and regular events at The Waterfront bring neighboring businesses into the same room, where cross-industry introductions and informal collaboration actually happen. Visibility is a quiet benefit of being early to a place people are starting to talk about.
The pattern is familiar from other cities. Austin’s Mueller district and Boston’s Seaport drew employers with the same combination: a strong economic framework, a distinctive setting, and a quality of place that helps with hiring. Allentown’s riverfront is building that reputation now, on the banks of the Lehigh.
The early tenants are the start of the story, not the whole of it. The Waterfront offers a growth-minded setting with a real financial advantage, a riverfront address, and a district that keeps adding homes, dining, and public space around it. For a company weighing its next move, that combination is hard to assemble anywhere else in the Lehigh Valley.
Bring your team and see the fit. Tour the Offices at 615 Waterfront and walk the River Walk. Schedule a visit.