Uber purchases land in Findlay for self-driving car test track

Firm’s ‘Pittsburgh footprint continues to grow’

After weeks of speculation that Uber Technologies planned to increase its Pittsburgh presence, the company has finalized a deal for nearly 600 acres of land in Findlay.

The San Francisco ride-hailing giant bought the parcel through Uber affiliate 3 Rivers Holding LLC from real estate developer Imperial Land Corp. for $9.5 million, according to its president, Jerry Bunda.

Uber plans to build a test track for its self-driving cars on the land, according to Uber spokeswoman Sarah Abboud. Ms. Abboud could not share any additional details regarding next steps Thursday.

Uber, which also has headquartered its autonomous vehicles branch — the Advanced Technologies Group — in the Strip District, currently leases a 50 acres in Hazelwood Green, where it creates unexpected and tricky situations for its self-driving cars to practice before they hit the public roads.

The company did not intend to stay in Hazelwood when it began testing self-driving cars in 2016 and has been scouting locations in the region for its new test track for the past few months.

It was looking for more space to conduct testing as it’s “Pittsburgh footprint continues to grow,” Ms. Abboud told the Pittsburgh PostGazette in November. That month, Uber narrowed its list by turning down a possible location in South Fayette because of space constraints.

With its acquisition of land to test its autonomous vehicles in Findlay, Uber’s “footprint” is certainly growing.

The company’s lease in Hazelwood will expire in 2023, and Ms. Abboud said it does not plan to renew.

As Uber makes plans to leave Hazelwood Green, self-driving car company Aptiv is starting to set up there. The O’Hara-based firm announced plans in December to move to Mill 19, a multiphase development project in Hazelwood

Green that is already home to Carnegie Mellon University’s Manufacturing Futures Initiative and Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute.

Aptiv, which plans to make the move by the second quarter of next year, wanted to have all of its operations under one roof. In O’Hara, it has three neighboring buildings. It also wanted to make more space for new hires — a big selling point for the communities that house the research, development and testing of these self-driving cars.

In September, Imperial Land Corp. submitted to the Findlay Township Board of Supervisors a proposal for an autonomous car test track, though it did not specify then which self-driving car company was interested.

That original proposal asked for a 966-acre parcel off Westport Road for an outdoor research and test track, which could employ 100-200 full-time employees,. The request was modified from close to 1,000 acres to about 600 “mid-stream” as Uber determined how much space it "I think it really needed, Mr. Bunda said.

Now that the deal has been finalized, any details about the arrangement must be decided between Uber and the township, he said. Members of the Findlay planning commission could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The land is currently vacant, Mr. Bunda said.

Uber’s presence in Findlay should pique interest in the region because Uber is a recognizable name, Mr. Bunda said, adding that other companies like Amazon, GE and Gordon Food Service already operate there.

it kind of really puts Findlay on the map as a large corporate area out there,” he said. “Those are big names that draw other big names, hopefully.”