— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs
This will explain why so many people want to have Wawa build on their land. It’s a way to turn a small piece of real estate into a gold mine.
The Wawa property on East Broad Street in Bethlehem has been sold for the second time in 14 months, and in that short time, the price jumped $600,000.
In July 2023, the 741 E. Broad St. property was sold for $4 million. This September, it went for $4.6 million, up 15% in little more than a year. The land covers just 1.7 acres. The latest price values the corner spot at $2.7 million per acre.
In 2003, Northampton County property records show that the same property was sold for $707,500.
Wawa evaluates sites based on traffic and other criteria, and it prefers free-standing buildings.
The chain looks for “employment centers, retail, office and commercial traffic generators,” its website says, along with a minimum traffic count of 25,000 vehicles per day.
Check the requirements here.
The convenience-store chain is an ideal tenant. The landowner collects rent. Wawa takes care of everything else.
The current owner is a limited-liability corporation known as Fifth Street Broad, based at 422 Thomas St. in South Bethlehem.
The business also rents off-campus housing to Lehigh University students.
Lehigh Valley News Briefs 
The cost of the land beside that how many convenience store do we need in the Lehigh Valley. It is absolutely ridiculous.
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