Will developers come calling at prime Hazelwood project?

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A request for qualifications from developers to be issued later this summer could be the first big test to judge the interest in the former LTV coke works redevelopment in Hazelwood.

Almono LP, owner of the 178-acre riverfront tract known as Hazelwood Green, plans to issue the request before Labor Day to solicit interest from developers nationally in redeveloping 32 acres in the middle of the site in what has been dubbed the Mill District.

Any potential development would supplement the work being done by the Regional Industrial Development Corporation at the old Mill 19 building on the other 12 acres within that district.

RIDC has started construction on a 94,000-square-foot first phase being built inside the mill superstructure. It will house Carnegie Mellon University’s Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Institute and Manufacturing Futures Initiative.

It is planning two additional phases, one just under 70,000 square feet and the other up to 110,000 square feet within12 acres it owns.

The request for qualificationswould apply to the other 32 acres within the district.

“It’s very important to us that right behind the Mill Building development that’s moving forward that we keep the momentum going,” said Rebecca Flora, Hazelwood Green project director. “To do that, we feel that we are now ready to bring other development to the site. That’s whatwe’re focused on.”

Ms. Flora said she’s not sure what kind of interest the request for qualifications will generate, saying it’s the first time anyone has really tested the market. But she added there’s been a lot of interest in the site from the development community.

“We’ll start [with the RFQ], see what comes in. If there’s a lot of great interest and it’s aligned with what we want to do, then we’ll move to the next stage” with a request for proposals, she said.

Ms. Flora made her comments after briefing the Pittsburgh Planning Commission on a proposed preliminary land development plan for Hazelwood Green, perhaps the city’s premier development site.

Developers that want to build there will face high sustainability standards. For office buildings, that could include the standard of LEED Gold, the second highest in the green building rating system.

Almono also is going for a LEED for Neighborhood Development Plan certification. Net zero energy is the goal for the site, which could produce much of its own electricity. There are also plans to capture and reuse rainwaterand to limit parking.

Ms. Flora acknowledged that Almono — made up of Heinz Endowments, the Richard King Mellon Foundation and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation — is “definitely pushing the envelope.”

“The reason we have that bar high is that we are trying to look toward the future. We’re trying to look toward where we believe the future is going,” she said. “To set the bar too low now would be a huge mistake.”

Hazelwood Green also is considered one of the top local sites for Amazon’s proposed second headquarters. Pittsburgh is one of 20 finalists for HQ2, which, according to Amazon, could bring up to 50,000 jobs and $5 billion ininvestment over 17 years.

Ms. Flora declined to say whether Almono has set aside any land within the 178-acre tract for the e-commerce king. The goal is to have a site interspersed with office, research and development, light industrial, hospitality, commercial, and residential.

“We really want to encourage mixed use,” Ms. Flora said.

The preliminary land development plan also emphasizes direct connections to the surrounding Hazelwood neighborhood and a robust urban design.

During the briefing, commission members generally liked what they saw, although some pushed for more information on what was different about the current plan than the one they approved in 2013. Another wanted to know how the plan relates to the new riverfront zoning recommended by the commission earlier this year.

Member Sabina Deitrick also encouraged Ms. Flora to work with the community, schools, unions and other organizations to put in place workforce training programs so that local residents can take advantage of the jobs to be created by the development.

Ms. Flora said Almono has already been working with the community to put such strategies in place.