Allegheny County, RIDC ink deal to develop Carrie Furnace site in Rankin

Part of the former Carrie Furnace steelmaking site along the Monongahela River near Braddock is to be redeveloped for contemporary commercial use.

It’s intended to include flexible technology space, research and development, workforce education, light manufacturing and assembly, and even a place for film production.

The redevelopment plan that targets 52 acres of developable land resulted from a partnership between the Allegheny County Redevelopment Authority and the Regional Industrial Development Corp. (RIDC). The former brownfield site adjacent to the historic Carrie blast furnaces spans Rankin and Swissvale, and west banks of the Mon River in Munhall and Whitaker.

“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,” said Donald F. Smith Jr., RIDC president.

This will be the RIDC’s sixth major development in the Mon Valley. The organization has developed Keystone Commons, City Center of Duquesne, The Pittsburgh Technology Center, Mill 19 at Hazelwood Green, and McKeesport.

Under the agreement that the county authority approved on Thursday, the RIDC will develop a portion of the Carrie Furnace site, constructing and extending infrastructure on behalf of county redevelopment authority.

Infrastructure work and roadway design will start this fall, with construction slated for next spring, the RIDC said.

Construction of 100,000 square feet of tech-flex buildings is planned. And there is sufficient land for more than 500,000 square feet of new construction. An extra 11 acres are available west of the blast furnaces for potential future phases of development.

The county redevelopment authority purchased the site in 2005. It has completed underground vault excavation, remediation, sanitary sewer work, stormwater and waterline installations, and a flyover bridge and roadway to connect the site to the Rankin Bridge.

The RIDC is working with the Pittsburgh Film Office and other interested parties on possibly creating “The Film Furnace” — a film studio campus with sound stages and other filmmaking amenities.

The project also will incorporate the county’s plans to create a riverside pedestrian and bike trail along the Monongahela River. It will connect the Carrie Furnace Hot Metal Bridge to the Great Allegheny Passage, as well as to the Westmoreland Heritage Trail that ends in Trafford.