Power of 32 Site Development Fund
Announces Airport Corridor Investment
Fund accelerates business investment by providing “last dollars in” to meet demand for more shovel-ready sites in Clinton Commerce Park
Multi-state fund makes first investment in Pennsylvania
(PITTSBURGH – March 28, 2016) – The Power of 32 Site Development Fund Partners LP, a $49 million Pittsburgh-based fund that provides loans in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland to help close critical infrastructure financing gaps and move prepared sites to market more quickly, announced its most recent investment today.
The Fund has made a loan of $5.7 million to the second phase of Clinton Commerce Park, located in Findlay Township near Pittsburgh International Airport and major highways. The loan will help cover site infrastructure improvements such as storm water management, erosion controls, installation of utilities, roadway access and site grading and embankment.
The 100-acre second phase is expected to yield 1.45 million square feet of new industrial space over 8 pad-ready sites once infrastructure is in place.
The Clinton Commerce Park loan is the second one by the Fund, which closed in March 2015. It previously made a site loan of $2.6 million in Trimodal Terminal, LP, in Follansbee, W. Va., an 80-acre brownfield site on the Ohio River approximately 45 miles from Pittsburgh for similar infrastructure improvements that will create additional shovel-ready pads on that site.
The Fund, which has 15 limited partners, concentrates its investments on eligible sites in the 32-county Greater Pittsburgh economic region and places a special emphasis on preparing brownfield sites for reinvestment.
“This fund was created to move sites to market by providing financing for infrastructure investment. Typically, the sites we fund would not be considered for conventional financing because they do not yet have tenants and buildings. Our goal is to get the site ready for construction so when companies are ready to locate in this region, they can move with the speed they expect. When companies are ready to commit and start building, they don’t want to wait for infrastructure,” said Dennis Yablonsky, chairman of the Fund’s Board of Managers and CEO, Allegheny Conference on Community Development, the organization which led the effort to create the fund in follow up to the Power of 32 visioning process.
“Clinton Commerce Park is a great example of the kind of site that’s well-positioned in the Airport Corridor but doesn’t yet have the infrastructure that will help close the deal with a company that’s ready to build. The Airport Corridor has proven ability to attract investment once infrastructure is in place,” continued Yablonsky.
“This loan from the Power of 32 Site Development Fund shows the value of public-private partnership in getting things done. The Fund is an important financing resource for site infrastructure,” said Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald.
“We appreciate the investment of the Power of 32 Site Development Fund in Clinton Commerce Park. We’re making great progress at Pittsburgh International Airport in adding nonstop service, increasing flights and improving our facilities. To make the most of the airport’s development opportunities, we need to bring more developable sites to market faster. Businesses want the proximity to the airport and with this funding, we’ll have the sites to locate them here,” said Christina Cassotis, CEO, Allegheny County Airport Authority.
To be eligible for investment by the Fund, a site must be located within the following 32 counties of the Greater Pittsburgh economic region (see table below).
The Greater Pittsburgh regional economy extends beyond state boundaries to encompass 32 counties in four states. It includes a population of 4.1 million people within 17,380 square miles in the 32 counties of western Maryland, eastern Ohio, southwestern Pennsylvania, and both the northern panhandle and north-central regions of West Virginia. Many residents commute to work daily across county and state lines.
The Fund is continuing to take applications for investment; please visit the Fund’s website (www.P32SiteFund.com) for more information.
|
|
