BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Inside the Brinker Lofts in southside Bethlehem, history is coming alive.

U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner visited the Lofts Wednesday morning. It’s a first of its kind project in a Pennsylvania Opportunity Zone, transforming a former cold storage into 30 market-rate apartments. 69 News spoke exclusively with Secretary Turner in our studio following his visit. He said zones like these help revitalize communities.

“It’s excellent. It’s a great model and I can’t wait to tell others about it,” said Secretary Turner.

Opportunity Zones are economically distressed communities as defined by the U.S. Census. They are nominated by Governors and certified by the treasury. Investments in these areas may be eligible for tax incentives.

“The reason that we do that is cause a lot of the times at Opportunity Zones, people don’t know what to do. But if you say hey this is what I saw in the Lehigh Valley, this is what I saw in Hazleton, this is what I saw in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania or Birmingham, Alabama that helps ignite others around the country and so that’s the whole purpose of it,” said Secretary Turner.

We also spoke about home costs. Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors shows the median home sales price is $375,000.

“The biggest problem is the regulatory environment– bureaucratic red tape because the more bureaucracy you have, the more expensive it is to build. The more expensive it is to build, the less supply we have, the more expensive it is to buy,” said Secretary Turner.

We asked how home prices can be driven down. He said you bring regulatory barriers down, increase supply.

The average first-time home buyer in the U-S, 40-years-old, according to the Secretary.

He said HUD is also going to increase the credit market, increasing FHA, a first-time home buyer program.

“We’re going to accept vantage score and FICO 10t. So, people who have a history of paying their rent on time, these scores are now starting to count so that their credit score is stronger so they could be potentially a first-time home buyer,” said Secretary Turner.