From playing in the NFL to leading his team at U.S. Housing and Urban Development– Secretary Scott Turner said it is the perfect time to visit the Lehigh Valley.

“We’re celebrating a one-year anniversary of the Working Family Tax Cuts or the One Big Beautiful Bill that the President signed into law and it made opportunity zones permanent,” said Secretary Turner.

One of those opportunity zone projects– the Brinker Lofts in southside Bethlehem. Secretary Turner toured the site Wednesday.

The former cold storage building is being transformed into 30 market-rate apartments.

HUD Secretary Scott Turner speaks exclusively with 69 News during Bethlehem visit

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.

“When you look at opportunity zones and just the catalyst, they can be to serve for other development as well as what we saw today in this downtown area. That’s exactly what we want to see and that’s exactly why I’m here,” said Secretary Turner.

Another topic of discussion during our exclusive interview– home inventory and the median home sales price. Greater Lehigh Valley Realtors data shows there is a one-month inventory here and the median home sales price is $375,000

“The number one thing I hear from industry experts, from builders, developers, from entrepreneurs, from potential buyers; 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 and the more expensive it is to buy,” said Secretary Turner.

One of the moves he said HUD did was taking down the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing Rule.

“Instead, it was a lot of layers and bureaucracy and so we tore that down to restore flexibility back to localities. HUD does not want to be a local zoning board or national zoning board. Communities know their needs that are very unique. They know it not Washington bureaucrats,” said Secretary Turner.

You will be able to watch our full interview with Secretary Turner on WFMZ.com.