Redevelopment site set to change Pittsburgh community

PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh's biggest redevelopment site drew Gov. Tom Wolf in for a visit late Monday afternoon.

The Almono site running along the Mon River in Hazelwood is set to forever change the community.

The centerpiece of the development is the old mill building, which will be transformed and will soon house research and development for manufacturing and robotics.

But the big plans go far beyond that.

“This is a great place to be and this is going to make it even greater,” said Wolf.

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The 1,500-foot-long Mill 19 building used to be used for making steel, as the site of the LTV Steel plant.

Developers want to transform the space in three phases that would eventually include building up the surrounding 178-acre property to include 3 million square feet of office space and 2,000 housing units.

“I think in the future when you see 'Monday Night Football' shots of Pittsburgh, you're going to see this building as what they highlight to talk about the renaissance of Pittsburgh,” said Don Smith, president of Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The Almono Development was bought in 2002 by four foundations, including the Heinz Endowments.

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Now, millions of dollars in state grants and loans are being used to revitalize the brownfield, transforming its use from the last industrial revolution into a future of robotics and manufacturing.

“This is a magnet for people who want to be in a high-tech environment and don't want to put up with all the nonsense they put up with in California,” Smith said.

The developers are in final negotiations right now with Carnegie Mellon University to be the anchor tenant in Mill 19.

They could move in in 2019.

Cox Media Group