ROOM TO GROW
Green technology company wants to expand presence in Pittsburgh beyond manufacturing
A Canadian company with ties to actor Michael Keaton could expand its presence in Pittsburgh beyond the green-focused manufacturing plant that it is seeking to build.
Nexii Building Solutions is mulling the potential for establishing a center for green building innovation and manufacturing in the Steel City in addition to the proposed plant, said Craig Rippole, president and partner of Emsworth-based Trinity Commercial Development.
Trinity has been working with Nexii and Mr. Keaton, a Pittsburgh native, to develop the manufacturing plant, which is still in the planning stages.
But as Nexii has learned more about the region, it has been impressed with its leadership in green building technology and the way the universities, foundations, private sector and government work together, Mr. Rippole said.
That has led the company to consider a larger role here, he noted.
“Whatever presence they would have here would be expanded beyond just a manufacturing plant. It would be some type of center for innovation,” he said. “They see the potential for Pittsburgh beyond a place to manufacture and distribute from.”
Nexii began thinking about a broader presence after attending a Carnegie Mellon University Manufacturing Futures Institute Technical Exchange at Mill 19 at Hazelwood Green, site of the old LTV Coke works, Mr. Rippole said. It also has liked the work of the Green Building Alliance.
Exactly what the expanded presence would look like is unclear, although Mr. Rippole envisioned some “corporate type functions beyond manufacturing.”
“That expanded role can be a lot of things,” he said.
Vancouver-based Nexii recently opened its first U.S. plant in Hazleton, on the eastern side of Pennsylvania. That facility, Mr. Rippole said, further strengthens the case for a second plant in the Pittsburgh region.
Nexii has been scouting locations here for more than a year.
The front-runner appears to be Hazelwood Green, where the emphasis on cutting-edge sustainability seems to mesh with the company’s focus on green building technology.
As proposed, the facility would produce sustainable panels that Nexii says can reduce carbon emissions and create more energy-efficient buildings and construction materials.
It also could be the first plant to be built with Nexitte, the company’s own product, an alternative to concrete that is meant to make buildings more environmentally friendly.
While Nexii is still keeping its options open in terms of a site, the company likes “the location and the synergies surrounding the Hazelwood Green” property, Mr. Rippole said.
Of particular interest, he added,
is the Mill 18 site adjacent to Mill 19.
The Regional Industrial Development Corp. currently is preparing the fiveacre tract for development after receiving approval from the city planning commission last October.
That work involves removing about 50,000 cubic yards of material that had been deposited at the site between 1998 and 2004.
About half of the property, the location of the old Bar Mill 18, a sister structure to Mill 19, has been prepped so far.
RIDC has been in talks with Mr. Rippole about locating the Nexii plant at Mill 18, president Don Smith said.
“They continue to express interest and we’re interested in having them there. We’re trying to work something out,” he said.
The site would be big enough to accommodate the type of plant Nexii is considering, Mr. Smith said. He added that RIDC could accelerate the rest of the site prep work if needed.
“If there’s a deal there, we can move quickly,” he said. “It would be great to have a couple hundred manufacturing jobs right there in Hazelwood. It would be terrific.”
RIDC also developed the Mill 19 complex, home to CMU’s Manufacturing Futures initiative, the nonprofit Advanced Robotics Manufacturing Institute, and Catalyst Connection.
Motional, formerly known as Aptiv, occupies all of a second building at Mill 19. RIDC hopes to finish construction on a third structure of 100,000 square feet and three stories by the end of the year.
RIDC is talking to a number of prospects about that building but no one has signed yet, Mr. Smith said.
Besides Hazelwood Green, Nexii has been considering several other sites, including one in Beaver County.
At one time, Nexii had hoped to open the Pittsburgh plant this year. Mr. Rippole did not have a revised timetable.
The plan right now, he said, is to bring Nexii CEO Stephen Sidwell back into town before the end of the summer to tour sites and to talk “to individuals about next steps.”
Mr. Keaton, who describes himself as an “unapologetic environmentalist,” toured Hazelwood Green and the Mill 19 complex last year. He has signed on to be an investor in the Nexii project and to take an active role in its development.