Mericle Commercial Real Estate Services is celebrating four decades of business operations, marking 40 years of a development strategy centered on constructing move-in-ready commercial facilities before securing tenants. By taking calculated financial risks on speculative construction, the firm has transformed the economic landscape across Northeastern Pennsylvania, transforming former industrial acreage into thriving employment centers.
Over its 40-year history, the real estate development company has constructed more than 160 commercial facilities spread across 21 business parks in the region. According to Jim Cummings, the vice president of marketing at Mericle, these properties now house nearly 250 enterprise tenants and support a combined workforce of approximately 20,000 employees throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The scale of Mericle’s speculative construction has expanded considerably since the company began operations. In its early years roughly 40 years ago, the developer focused on comparatively modest facilities ranging from 30,000 to 50,000 square feet. As business operations expanded, Mericle progressively raised the bar for regional industrial development by becoming the first local builder to construct speculative properties reaching 100,000 square feet, later scaling to 250,000, 500,000, and ultimately 1 million square feet.
This private investment model represented a departure from how regional economic growth was traditionally funded. Bob Durkin, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, noted that for several decades, industrial expansion depended heavily on non-profit and quasi-public entities such as the Scranton Lackawanna Industrial Building Company, Greater Hazleton Can Do Inc., and the Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce, primarily because substantial private capital was not being invested in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
Durkin credited company founder Robert Mericle with fundamentally altering that dynamic through aggressive private investment and a willingness to commit resources ahead of market demand. By deploying private capital to construct large-scale facilities without pre-committed leases, Mericle created available inventory that expanded the region's capacity to recruit new employers, positioning the area well ahead of competing markets.
The company's most expansive undertaking to date is the CenterPoint Commerce & Trade Park, situated across Pittston Township and Jenkins Township. Developed through a public-private collaboration, the 14-million-square-foot development reclaimed ground that had remained unused for decades following historic coal mining operations, rehabilitating the scarred terrain into a premier regional commerce park.
Nearly all of the facilities within CenterPoint were constructed on speculation without signed leases beforehand. Today, the trade park encompasses 63 completed buildings that accommodate 85 different companies and provide employment for more than 8,000 workers across diverse business sectors.
Building on that track record, Mericle is now directing resources toward the CrossRoads East Business Park, a project currently under construction in Hazle Township. The developing park is planned to match CenterPoint in overall scale and holds the potential to generate comparable long-term economic gains and employment opportunities for the regional workforce.
Economic development leaders view the new Hazle Township development as a critical asset for ongoing regional recruitment. John Augustine III, the president and chief executive officer of regional economic development organization Penn's Northeast, highlighted the site's advantageous highway connectivity and stressed that having immediate, modern building availability is essential, particularly as prospective corporate tenants have increasingly prioritized ready-to-occupy spaces over the past five years.
A central element of Mericle's operational strategy is its vertically integrated business structure. Rather than contracting project phases out to external construction managers, general contractors, and specialized subcontractors—a practice that can inflate project costs and extend timelines—the company maintains its full design, engineering, and construction workforce in-house.
This internal structure allows the developer to accelerate building schedules, maintain competitive leasing rates, and execute specialized interior modifications. These comprehensive build-out capabilities cater to complex industrial operations, including advanced manufacturing enterprises, which in turn helps secure long-term tenants and sustain local job growth.
Durkin described Robert Mericle as an exceptional practitioner of economic development whose strategic vision has consistently benefited the broader community. The Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce has teamed with Mericle on various local initiatives over the years, including development projects situated within the Jessup Small Business Center.
The company’s ability to adjust to evolving commercial space requirements has also played a role in its longevity. Augustine observed that corporate square footage demands fluctuate over time; while massive 1-million-square-foot facilities were once heavily sought after, corporate requirements have recently shifted toward mid-sized footprints of around 200,000 square feet, a trend Mericle anticipated in its planning.
Furthermore, Mericle’s broad real estate portfolio—which encompasses an array of manufacturing plants, warehouse and distribution facilities, and professional office spaces—provides a buffer against broader economic downturns and cyclical market disruptions.
Augustine noted that Mericle’s initial willingness to risk private capital set a precedent for the entire region. By proving that speculative commercial development could succeed in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the developer established market confidence, creating economic momentum that subsequently encouraged other private entities to invest in the local economy.
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