Reading Works - 2006 - Greater Reading Expo Center

Greater Reading Expo Center

Audubon Land Development of Oaks, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, bought the old Reading Works in December 2005 for an undisclosed amount. Agere Systems spokesman Glen Haley confirmed the deal. Agere Systems had been asking for $8 million for the property, but Haley and Call declined to disclose the purchase price. The assessment of the property was lowered to $9.5 million from $26.3 million after Agere Systems appealed. On Tuesday, March 14, 2006, Urban Expositions, a Georgia-based trade show company, announced it would hold the 10th annual Philadelphia Gift Show at the Reading center July 23–26, 2006. The facility is being called the Greater Reading Expo Center. A company press release calls the event, with an expected 1,400 booths, the largest regional gift show in the country. Gene Call, an Audubon spokesman, said Audubon's subsidiary, Stonepoint Management Corp., which is leasing the 1,000,000-square-foot (93,000 m2) Agere Systems building, would run the exposition center. Stonepoint would use 350,000 square feet (33,000 m2), he said. Stonepoint is exploring other uses but has not made firm plans, he said.

Crystal Seitz, president of the Greater Reading Convention & Visitors Bureau, said a typical convention center with a steady stream of shows generates about $150 million for a local economy, including money spent for lodging and meals. Jon C. Scott, president of the Berks Economic Partnership, said he has met several times with Audubon officials and is excited about the prospects for the center. “It opens up the type of exhibits that would never have been available before,” Scott said. “It leads to other intriguing possibilities.” Some of the shows scheduled for the facility included: Philadelphia Gift Show which includes Birdwatch America-Philadelphia, Great Train Expo, Bead Fest Philadelphia, Greater Philadelphia Pet Expo, Great American Guitar Show, Sports Card & Memorabilia Show, Home & Garden Show, and The Greater Reading Sport, Travel & Outdoors Show.

Success of the Expo Center is in part due to the closing of the Fort Washington Exposition Center in Montgomery County and the Pennsylvania Expo Center in Lehigh County and in part due to the 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) of inside space, several auditoriums, numerous meeting rooms, 13 loading docks, ample parking and a full-service cafeteria among its amenities, the expo center. Muhlenberg Township waived the 10% amusement tax on admission to the expo center from January through September 2007. This was an attempt to allow the Expo Center to become better established. The township estimates future revenues at $50,000 per year.

The Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development included the StonePointe Center, the former Agere complex in Muhlenberg Township, which includes the Greater Reading Expo Center, as part of the Greater Reading Keystone Innovation Zone and invested $235,000 to fund its operations. Also included in this zone is TEK Park, the former home of Lucent/Agere Optoelectronics in Breinigsville, Lehigh County, which houses a number of industrial tenants and the Kutztown University Innovation Center. Building 30 is now called the "Flex Building" and building 20 is the "Office Building". They are keeping their options open. Here is what they say: "Imagine a state of the art business center, with more than one million square feet of available space for office, manufacturing and distribution; a facility with high-tech infrastructure and easy access to transportation. Imagine a convenient location near Reading, Pennsylvania, with professional on-site management to support your business. Imagine your business at StonePointe Center." The Expo Center is the latest in venues that mark a renaissance in Reading. It started with the opening of the Sovereign Center and its sister the Sovereign Performing Arts Center. Now it includes the Goggle-Works Center for the Arts, and the Greater Reading Expo Center.