County, RIDC collaborate to develop Carrie Furnaces site
Two public development groups have agreed to collaborate on redevelopment of the historic Carrie Furnaces site in the Mon Valley.
The old mill site, once part of the Homestead Steel Works, has been owned by the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County since 2005, but has yet to produce fruit.
In 2018, Carrie Furnaces was one of the sites Pittsburgh offered in its losing bid to entice Amazon to build a second headquarters here.
On Thursday, the authority voted to partner with the Regional Industrial Development Corp. to move forward with development of the site, which spans the boroughs of Munhall, Rankin, Swissvale and Whitaker.
“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,” County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said in a statement.
Plans call for a phased development with portions for various commercial uses, including flex-tech, research and development, biotech, film production, workforce education and training, light manufacturing and assembly and similar uses.
RIDC is working with the Pittsburgh Film Office and other parties on the possibility of creating The Film Furnace — a film studio campus with sound stages and other amenities.
RIDC expects to begin infrastructure and roadway design this fall followed by construction in the spring of 2022. That will be followed by construction of 100,000 square feet of tech-flex buildings.
The project also will incorporate the county’s plans to create a riverside pedestrian and bike trail along the Monongahela River.
The property includes 52 acres of developable land and an additional 11 acres west of the furnaces for potential future phases of development.
“This site presents a great opportunity to reclaim one of our historic sites and bring it to life with the type of 21st Century jobs that are driving our economy,” RIDC President Donald F. Smith Jr. said.