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The former Lehigh Valley Dairy, which languished in disrepair for more than 30 years, has been sold.

The Elias family, known for their popular farm markets, bought the long-vacant 10-acre property at 1026 MacArthur Road, Whitehall, that housed the former dairy, for $1.35 million Sept. 27.

It was a huge relief for Whitehall Township Mayor Michael Harakal Jr., who had been meeting privately with the family since March about the sale. He said he hopes the redevelopment will create an economic renaissance in the southern corridor of MacArthur Road.

The township has struggled for decades to find a developer interested in the sprawling property on MacArthur Road between the Route 22 interchange and the border of Allentown.

“It wasn’t until I got the call that the sale had been completed Friday afternoon that I could breathe again,” Harakal said. “There have been instances in the past where people committed to buying it, and it fell through.”

Harakal said he was approached by Joseph Elias and his son Gus in March to buy the property, owned since 1996 by LVD Realty Inc., of Allen Township.

Even the Eliases’ real estate agent, Glenn Fritts, associate broker for RE/MAX Commercial, told Harakal he was just 50/50 on whether the sale would go through.

Fritts said the help from Harakal, Whitehall officials and the office of state Rep. Jeanne McNeill, D-133rd, convinced the family to buy the property. However, Harakal said because of the dilapidated condition of the 275,000-square-feet concrete building, it would have to be demolished.

“I don’t believe there’s any way to save the building,” Harakal said. “It is filled with mold, asbestos and the roof is rotted.”

Harakal said while the Elias family is keeping its options open, the property would likely be used for a combination of retail and office structures.

He said the township and family have already started meeting with Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation and Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to discuss changing access to the property.

“There’s a lot of work that needs to be done on the site,” Harakal said.

The building, renovated from a silk mill, opened as a dairy in 1934 under ownership of Lehigh Valley Cooperative Farmers and closed in 1989. In its heyday, the dairy was a familiar fixture in the Lehigh Valley with its popular dairy bar. Whitehall High School graduations were held in the four-story Art Deco building.

Since it was abandoned, the building has fallen into disrepair. The southern end of the building had been partially demolished and patched with plywood. There was a partial roof collapse last year, and vandals had gotten in and spray-painted graffiti in the lobby. Last year, the township issued a notice of violation for the property because the sprinklers were not operational.

“It’s unfortunate that lot of history will be going away,” Harakal said. “However, it also is an opportunity to start fresh.”

The family has also recently bought other properties in the area and owns the Elias Market, 101 Tilghman St., Allentown, and Azar Market, 3131 Linden St., Bethlehem.

Harakal calls the Elias family’s purchase of the property “the culmination of the American dream.”

Joseph Elias, who arrived in America from Lebanon in 1979 at the age of 18, “came here with nothing in his pocket and sold potatoes door to door - and now, 40 years later, he is buying the dairy.”

Editor’s note: Read about the Elias family - from its humble beginning to its successful business ventures - in the Oct. 10 edition of the Whitehall-Coplay Press.