Internal memos show UPMC is probable tenant in South Fayette

All signs point to UPMC being the health care provider behind a 280,000-square-foot medical complex a developer is proposing to build in the Newbury plan in South Fayette.

EQA Landmark, the Newbury developer, has refused to identify the provider, citing a confidentiality agreement. But various sources have told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that UPMC is behind the project.

In addition, documents obtained

and the provider.

For the proposed development to get the go-ahead, it would have to clear the planning commission and then be approved by the township’s board of commissioners, Mr. Eggleston said.

For UPMC, the complex would mark its latest foray into the South Hills.

It had proposed building a 300,000-square-foot hospital off Route 51 in Pleasant Hills, about a mile from rival Allegheny Health Network’s Jefferson Regional Medical Center, but dropped those plans in September. At the time, UPMC spokesman Paul Wood said the health system was exploring other opportunities in the South Hills.

UPMC opened its 60,000square-foot outpatient Children’s South facility in South Fayette in 2014. It is on the former Star City Cinema property along Route 50 near Newbury.

The hospital’s plans at Newbury come as the health system is making an aggressive move into central Pennsylvania, where it plans to acquire Harrisburg-based PinnacleHealth, a three-hospital system. The deal could give UPMC control over a total of seven hospitals in a new market because PinnacleHealth is buying four other hospitals in the central part of the state from a forprofit chain based in Tennessee.

In a statement March 14, PinnacleHealth said it anticipated to close its purchases in the summer. Both deals, UPMC’s acquisition of PinnacleHealth and PinnacleHealth’s hospital purchase, will require regulatory approval.

For EQA, landing UPMC could be a big boost for the Newbury project. Over the years, it has lost potential tenants such as Giant Eagle, Bass Pro Shops and Kohl’s.