Michael Keaton partners with Pittsburgh-area developer to locate new plant in region

As Michael Keaton prepares to reprise his role as Batman in an upcoming movie, the Pittsburgh-area native also is a partner in a business venture that could create more than 300 jobs in the region.

Keaton, a Robinson native, is partnering with Emsworth developer Craig Rippole and Nexii Building Solutions, a company from Vancouver, Canada. They will locate a plant to assemble the green building system Nexii pioneers that will employ more than 300 people. A site has not been selected.

The partnership was announced Thursday morning in a joint statement.

“Growing up, many of my neighbors worked in Pittsburgh’s famous steel plants; the lore was that a businessman would take an extra white shirt to work because the one he started with would get so dirty from the mills’ polluted air that he’d have to put on a fresh one to come home,” Keaton said. “Nexii’s new plant will create more than 300 green, healthy job opportunities and help revitalize my hometown in a way that helps folks right now while paving the way for future generations.”

Rippole leads Trinity Commercial Development, a company that has developed everything from big-box commercial sites to brownfields in McKees Rocks.

The Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad site Trinity developed into a business park in McKees Rocks isn’t far from where Keaton grew up. The actor remembers what it looked like in its heyday, Rippole said.

As he led the cleanup and rehabilitation of the site, Rippole said he became more aware of the wasteful ways of the region’s industry and learned construction waste is a big issue that’s filling landfills.

The amount of waste astounded him, Rippole said, and created what he called an “aha” moment — he needed to do something to change how he did business.

Nine months ago, he learned about Nexii and its new building system, which uses a sustainable, prefabricated alternative to concrete that can be used to assemble buildings quickly.

These buildings are cost- and energy-efficient and create less waste than traditional ones, the company said.

“We want to be good stewards of the environment,” Rippole said.

Keaton, who describes himself as an “unapologetic environmentalist,” is a natural fit for the project because of his fondness for his hometown, Rippole said.

Keaton was in town scouting sites for the plant this year and will be back next month to continue the process.

Although a site hasn’t been selected, Rippole said the project is seeking a brownfield that can be redeveloped in a Keystone Opportunity Zone.

The zones are areas approved by the state for redevelopment, generally in blighted and distressed areas. The developers receive state and local tax breaks.

“The locations we’re considering are not public at this point,” Rippole said.

They’re working with the Pittsburgh Regional Alliance, the development arm of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, to move the project forward.

PRA President Mark Thomas said Nexii’s decision to locate in the region is evidence of Pittsburgh’s position as a leader in green manufacturing.

“Nexii’s expansion instantly bolsters our region’s leadership in sustainability and what’s next in manufacturing. Pittsburgh progressivists Michael Keaton and partner Craig Rippole are building something truly transformative here, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to continue supporting this effort,” Thomas said.

The plant is one of two Nexii is planning for Pennsylvania. The other plant, in Hazelton, is where Nexii hopes to make the materials that will be used to build the Pittsburgh plant, Rippole said.

“We’re looking at a 12- to 16-month development process,” he said.

The hope is the Pittsburgh plant will be ready to open in summer 2022.

“We’re honored to have so many passionate and knowledgeable champions in our corner as we scale Nexii rapidly to meet increased demand for cost-efficient green buildings,” Nexii CEO Stephen Sidwell said.