PITTSBURGH — The Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County on Thursday voted to enter into a partnership with the Regional Industrial Development Corporation to develop the Carrie Furnace site.
The former brownfield adjacent to the historic Carrie blast furnaces spans the boroughs of Munhall, Rankin, Swissvale and Whitaker.
”RIDC has great experience in this region of shepherding projects to fruition, and we’re delighted to partner with them on the Carrie Furnace site,” said County Executive Rich Fitzgerald. “This is an important project for the Mon Valley. Today’s vote by RAAC brings additional resources to the table to develop this site into the hub of economic activity that we know it can be.”
The phased development will have portions for various commercial uses, including flex-tech, R&D, biotech, film production, workforce education and training life sciences, light manufacturing and assembly, and other similar uses. RIDC is working with the Pittsburgh Film Office and other interested parties on the possibility of creating The Film Furnace – a film studio campus with purpose built sound stages and other amenities as part of the development.
TRENDING NOW:
”This collaboration builds on a great partnership that we have with RIDC and brings additional expertise and resources to the table as we move this project to the finish line,” said Lance Chimka, Allegheny County Economic Development Director. “Development sites like these remain one of the biggest opportunities for the Mon Valley, and we look forward to setting the market in a really positive way with this agreement.”
RIDC will begin infrastructure and roadway design this fall and begin construction work in the spring of 2022. The infrastructure and roadway work will be followed by construction of 100,000 square feet of tech flex buildings on site.
The project will also incorporate the county’s plans to create a riverside pedestrian and bike trail along the Monongahela River. It will connect the Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge to the Great Allegheny Passage, as well as to the Westmoreland Heritage Trail via the Turtle Creek Valley.
”This latest project further builds on the seven decades of collaboration between Allegheny County and RIDC that began with redevelopment of the former county workhouse in O’Hara Township and became the first planned industrial park in Pennsylvania,” said Timothy White, RIDC Senior Vice President of Development. “We look forward to continuing this partnership and are excited to bring jobs and investment back to the Carrie Furnace site.”
The property includes 52 acres of developable land which would accommodate greater than 500,000-square-feet of new construction. An additional 11 acres are available west of the furnaces for potential future phases of development.
RAAC purchased the site in August of 2005 and has completed underground vault excavation, site remediation, sanitary sewer work, storm water and water line installations, and a flyover bridge and roadway to connect the site to the Rankin Bridge.
©2021 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
