Heavy equipment prepares the site spanning Hanover Township, Nanticoke and Newport Township for NorthPoint Development’s two new distribution centers. 
                                 Jerry Lynott | Times Leader

Heavy equipment prepares the site spanning Hanover Township, Nanticoke and Newport Township for NorthPoint Development’s two new distribution centers.

Jerry Lynott | Times Leader

Tired of ads? Subscribers enjoy a distraction-free reading experience.
Click here to subscribe today or Login.
<p>Brent Miles, Chief Marketing Officer for NorthPoint Development, addressed the crowd at the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for the company’s newest distribution centers under construction on land spanning Hanover Township, Nanticoke and Newport Township. </p>
                                 <p>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader</p>

Brent Miles, Chief Marketing Officer for NorthPoint Development, addressed the crowd at the groundbreaking ceremony Thursday for the company’s newest distribution centers under construction on land spanning Hanover Township, Nanticoke and Newport Township.

Jerry Lynott | Times Leader

<p>State Sen. John Yudichak, I-Swoyersville, credited the collaboration between the public and private sectors for the two new distribution centers under construction by NorthPoint Development in the South Valley area of Luzerne County. </p>
                                 <p>Jerry Lynott | Times Leader</p>

State Sen. John Yudichak, I-Swoyersville, credited the collaboration between the public and private sectors for the two new distribution centers under construction by NorthPoint Development in the South Valley area of Luzerne County.

Jerry Lynott | Times Leader

HANOVER TWP. — The heavy equipment moving rock and dirt behind Brent Miles confirmed his company found the right spot to build its newest pair of distribution centers on reclaimed coal mining land.

But before it dug into the acreage in the South Valley area of Luzerne County and invested more than $124 million to construct 1.7 million square feet of new space, NorthPoint Development did its own data mining.

“It takes a lot of investment. It takes a lot of belief. But it takes a lot of data,” said Miles, Chief Marketing Officer for the Missouri-based developer.

Miles joined a host of state, county and local government and school district officials for a groundbreaking Thursday on the site spanning Newport Township, Nanticoke and Hanover Township for buildings 8 and 9 in NorthPoint’s Tradeport 164 package of properties.

The developer has built on the availability of land, the workforce, the collaboration of governments and the region’s location providing access to large population markets on the East Coast and beyond.

“You can service Canada. Chewy services Canada,” Miles said of the pet food company that set up shop in one of NorthPoint’s huge warehouses in nearby Hanover Township.

National and international companies such as Adidas, Patagonia, True Value, Spreetail and Thrive Market moved into NorthPoint projects, all built on spec. The same applied to the 1.2 million square feet Building 8 and the 536,254 square feet Building 9.

“I don’t have a tenant. I never build a building here with a tenant in mind, yet,” Miles said.

Based on its own data NorthPoint took a calculated risk of nearly $1 billion in private investment to build in the county, Miles said. The region has benefited in terms of annual tax revenues, nearly $1.1 million from the new buildings, and upwards of 6,000 jobs, including more than 1,700 once the new projects are complete.

Miles welcomed the welcome mat put out for NorthPoint.

“This is a community that wants us. They want our capital,” Miles said. Some don’t, he added, because land is unavailable, zoning or the type of jobs.

State Sen. John Yudichak, I-Swoyersville, reiterated the comment made by others that NorthPoint did what it said it was going to do.

“They’ve worked with local labor. They kept their promises on the (Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program), striking fair deals, making sure that taxpayers get money upfront. They didn’t ask for (Keystone Opportunity Zone designation) where you would have zero taxes for a period of time,” Yudichak said.

Earlier this year the County Council approved a tax break for NorthPoint through the LERTA program, forgiving the real estate tax for new development but not on the land on a sliding scale for a decade.

Yudichak had equal praise for the regional cooperation of governments and Earth Conservancy.

“Until the Earth Conservancy began the reclamation, until we built the South Valley Parkway none of it would have been possible,” Yudichak said.

The prospect of the more than 1 million square foot warehouse thrilled Newport Township Commissioner Joe Hillan.

“It’s a great day for Newport Township, well the whole South Valley. For us, we haven’t had, the township probably in the 80s when they transformed the Retreat State Hospital to the prison, the prison’s closed. So now this is like a rebirth for the township,” Hillan said.

There’s more Earth Conservancy land in the township for NorthPoint to take a look at, Hillan said. “Hopefully they’ll continue and find more areas in our township to expand,” he said.

Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.