As part of a recently solidified joint venture partnership between Alvin H. Butz, Inc., Think Loud Development and United Fiber & Data (UFD), UFD will officially call downtown Allentown "home" to its new regional sales headquarters.

UFD will occupy 10,000 square feet of a new, 10-story mixed-use building at the Butz Corporate Center (BCC Phase 3) with three levels of parking, four levels of office space and three levels of apartments-condominiums on the upper floors.

Alvin H. Butz, Inc. intends to break ground by spring 2014 with completion scheduled for spring 2015 when UFD will move from Phase 2 to their permanent headquarters in the addition.

Alvin H. Butz, Inc. will construct the third phase of the building, and Roberson Butz Architects will design it.

In addition to UFD's space, there will be approximately 30,000 square feet of office space available for lease.

UFD held its official launch, presented by Think Loud Development, Feb. 28 and announced plans to construct a new, 400-mile fiber optic network that was strategically designed to bypass single points of failure between New York City and northern Virginia.

UFD also announced that plans were underway for four new data centers to be located in York, Allentown, Reading and Lancaster, in addition to a Corporate Headquarters based in York.

"We believe that a city's worth can be measured by the vitality of the surrounding community," said Bill Hynes, founder and member of the board of directors for UFD and CEO of Think Loud Development.

"We want our enthusiasm for what we are doing to be contagious. We want our communities to grow. Through our projects, our intent is to fuel positive change," Hynes said.

In the interim, UFD will be occupying space on the second floor of Phase 2 of the Butz Corporate Center.

Phase 2 of the BCC had long been planned, however, it wasn't until the partnership with Think Loud Development and UFD that the Butz' were able to realize Phase 3.

"Together with UFD and Think Loud, we are able to create something spectacular in downtown Allentown," said Greg L. Butz, president and CEO of Alvin H. Butz, Inc.

"We are fortunate to have found a partner in the Butz family who maintains that same level of passion and personal commitment to the redevelopment of this city," Hynes said.

"When my brother, Eric, and I decided to build our headquarters in the downtown in 2005, we had hoped to be the catalysts for additional private development in the city.

"It didn't happen as quickly as we had hoped, but we are thrilled to see the level of activity happening in Allentown today and are proud to join Think Loud and UFD in continual investment.

"The founding partners of Think Loud have a very similar philosophy to urban revitalization as our family. We will be looking at additional opportunities to work together on projects in Allentown; this is just the start," said Greg Butz.

Phase 3 of the BCC is anticipated to create approximately 150 new jobs in the city.

Phase 1 brought 200 jobs to downtown. The nearly-complete Phase 2 is anticipated to bring 150 jobs.