Recently, $177 million went into the building of the PPL Center in Allentown, PA. The PPL Center already has entertainers such as Rascal Flatts and Tom Petty scheduled for appearances and it will also serve as the new home to the American Hockey League’s Phantoms. City leaders predict the center will draw up to 1 million people a year to downtown Allentown, which took a major hit after many retailers moved to the suburbs in previous decades.
To reverse the outflow of people to the suburbs, a new state tax funding scheme is allowing some corporate taxes to be used to pay private downtown development debt, sparking new upscale office space.
Mayor Ed Pawlowski says the new PPL Center will be an “economic shot in the arm for Downtown Allentown.” Having two fortune 500 companies there puts them ahead of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and a third company will be joining in the future.
