Hundreds of people gathered on Hamilton Street in Allentown this week for the grand opening of Tower 6, the newest office and retail building to be added to the city’s ever-growing landscape.

The 12-story building is the latest to be opened by City Center Lehigh Valley. After its grand opening ceremony and ribbon cutting on May 3, attendees were treated to the 360-degree views available from the top floors of the 180-foot structure.

“Tower 6 embodies the best in modern design, open and collaborative office space, and cutting-edge technology,” said City Center President J.B. Reilly. “Tower 6 exceeds Class A specifications and will serve as a model for all future City Center buildings.”

Located on the 600 block of Hamilton Street, Tower 6 is City Center’s first glass and steel building with floor-to-ceiling windows, which Reilly said not only make a strong visual statement, but also provide amazing views that fill the workspace with natural light.

Its office tenants will include Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, Avantor, Talen Energy, CAPTRUST, CrossAmerica Partners, NJR Energy Services, fedRFP, and Morton Brown Family Wealth. The top of Tower 6 features Merrill Lynch signage.

Together, the tenants will have nearly 500 employees, many of whom will live downtown, Reilly said.

“The high caliber of the companies it has attracted illustrates that downtown Allentown is again a regional center of excellence for financial services, corporate headquarters and professional office space,” he said. “It also shows that savvy employers recognize that their ability to attract talented employees has to do not only with the business they run, but also where they run it. Educated workers, especially millennials, want to be in a vibrant urban environment.”

Tower 6 will also host the upcoming Brokers & Developers Council event organized by the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC). That May 31 event will feature a panel of experts, including Reilly, discussing the changing urban landscape in the Lehigh Valley’s cities and the factors that are attracting companies to downtown locations.

“Tower 6 is just another example of the continuing renaissance we are experiencing in the downtowns across the region, driving the birth of a New Lehigh Valley,” said Don Cunningham, President & CEO of LVEDC. “The rejuvenation of downtown Allentown will ultimately benefit the entire region, because when the urban core of the largest municipality improves, it leads to job creation and improved quality-of-life throughout the Lehigh Valley.”

Less than 10,000 square feet of leasable space remain available in Tower 6. The 145,000-square-foot building offers retail space on its ground floor, most of which has been leased to ESSA Bank & Trust for a bank branch and commercial office.

A stylish lobby featuring a painting by local artist Marci McDonald can be seen from the sidewalk on Tower 6’s Hamilton Street side, and the building’s occupants and visitors will park in the new Community Deck on Sixth and Walnut streets.

The building’s cutting-edge features include energy-efficient systems for lighting, HVAC and window-shade control, elevators that optimize traffic flow, customized access-control and security solutions and state-of-the-art connectivity. An LED lighting system atop Tower 6 can produce 340 shades of color and various patterns, redefining the night skyline for miles.

City Center partnered with several Lehigh Valley companies to design, construct and fit out Tower 6, including Spillman Farmer Architects, RETTEW Engineering, Serfass Construction, DesignPoint, Offix Systems, Lutron, K&H Window Treatments, ESG Systems, RE:find, and Knoll dealer CFI.

With Allentown’s new arena, PPL Center, at its core, City Center includes more than 1.4 million square feet among four Class A office towers, the Renaissance Allentown Hotel, STRATA Flats, The Shops at City Center, upscale restaurant space and a coworking space called Velocity.

City Center’s total investment in downtown Allentown is $425 million, with an additional $500 million in development of office, residential, retail, and green space underway. In 2017, the Downtown Allentown Revitalization District was honored with a Global Award of Excellence by the Urban Land Institute.