For Immediate Release

Public Relations Division
Public Affairs Department
1170 Eighth Avenue
Bethlehem, PA 18016-7699
(610) 694-3711 - Phone
(610) 694-1509 - Fax

BETHLEHEM, Pa., February 25, 1999 -- Bethlehem Steel Corporation has named a Pittsburgh realty firm as its Designated Developer for the Corporation's former headquarters building on East Third Street in Bethlehem into a first-class hotel and conference center, it was announced here today by Stephen G. Donches, president, Bethlehem Development Corporation.

The firm, Wynco Realty Partners, is a real estate development group that has significant experience in property development and real estate management throughout the United States. Wynco recently completed a 225,000-square-foot shopping center and a U.S. headquarters building for an international engineering firm in western Pennsylvania and a Residence Inn in Maryland.

Wynco said that during the next six months it will perform its due diligence tasks necessary to undertake the redevelopment of the former office structure into a hotel and conference center. Under the recent agreement, the Wynco group will analyze all the elements of developing the structure into a hotel/conference center, including the market potential, building design, cost estimates and financing plan. In addition, Wynco is expected to partner with a national hotel chain under whose flag the hotel will operate. Assuming a satisfactory conclusion of its analysis, Wynco expects to close on the sale by this fall.

Bethlehem Development's Mr. Donches said, "A number of potential developers were interviewed over the past two years and we concluded that Wynco can best accommodate our schedule and preference for the type of hotel and conference center we envision for Bethlehem Works." Bethlehem Development Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Corporation that is pursuing development opportunities at the former plant site that comprises 1,800 acres.

Wynco's Executive Vice President, William West, said, "We are very pleased to have been selected by Bethlehem Steel to be part of Bethlehem Works. The opportunity to become part of Bethlehem Steel's commitment to the transformation of the former steel plant property into a first-class retail and entertainment complex is exciting."

Mr. Donches added: "We view this as another important step toward the planned revitalization of our City's South Side and an important adjunct to the overall development. The establishment of an aesthetically appealing, first-class hotel and conference center would provide Bethlehem Works with a facility that would be an attraction to tourists and business groups alike."

The hotel/conference center would be one of the anchors for the Bethlehem Works development project involving 163 acres at the western edge of the former Bethlehem Steel plant. Bethlehem Works is a mixed-use complex featuring sports, recreation, retail, restaurants and the National Museum of Industrial History, which is associated with the Smithsonian Institution. The remaining 1,600 acres, named the Bethlehem Commerce Center, will contain light and heavy industrial uses, manufacturing and assembling, warehousing, commercial and office space, and an intermodal terminal, establishing Bethlehem as a leading rail hub for the Northeast, with Norfolk Southern as its major customer.

The company noted that this continued mixed-use development was made possible by the rezoning of the site by City Council and the Bethlehem Planning Commission at the beginning of the conceptual planning. The former corporate headquarters building, built in phases beginning in 1906, was occupied by Bethlehem Steel until 1994, when the remaining employees moved to the current headquarters at Martin Tower.

"A facility of this type would be beneficial to the entire Lehigh Valley," said Mr. Donches "It would be a magnet to the further development of service-related businesses and provide badly needed additional accommodations to an area of our community that is destined to undergo substantial growth and revitalization.

"The prospect of a conference center that can accommodate large meetings is very appealing," Mr. Donches concluded.

Bethlehem Steel Corporation has been working cooperatively with many organizations throughout the region, state and nation to create a public/private partnership to advance South Side development projects. Instrumental to the success of the projects are federal, state, county and city government officials as well as the leadership of other community sectors including education, business, religious and social service.