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Editor’s Note:
A video interview with Jim Joseph, co-owner of the first site (W. Va.) to receive funding is available here.
A video interview with Dennis Yablonsky, Chairman of the Fund’s Board of Managers is available here.
New $49 million Power of 32 Site Development Fund announced to accelerate business investment in Greater Pittsburgh region
Private sector investors and foundations join together to make more shovel-ready sites available by closing critical financing gaps
Multi-state fund makes first investment in West Virginia
Sites in 32 counties in four states are eligible
(PITTSBURGH – May 28, 2015) – The Power of 32 Site Development Fund LP, a new, nearly $49 million fund that will help close critical infrastructure financing gaps and move prepared sites to market more quickly, was announced today. The Fund will concentrate its investments on eligible sites in the 32-county Greater Pittsburgh economic region and will place a special emphasis on preparing brownfield sites for reinvestment.
The Fund, which closed in March 2015, also announced its first site loan of $2.6 million in Trimodal Terminal, LP, in Follansbee, W. Va. This 80-acre brownfield site is located on the Ohio River approximately 45 miles from Pittsburgh with river, rail and highway access. The new funding will be used for rail line expansion and renovation, utility infrastructure (gas and water) and clearing, grading and creating additional shovel-ready pads within the site.
“On behalf of the Power of 32 Implementation Committee, we are very pleased to see this new site development fund established. When we went through our regional visioning process, there was clear consensus - not just in Pittsburgh but in all 32 counties - that we needed to put more investment in infrastructure and especially get brownfield sites ready for reinvestment,” said William (Pat) Getty, president of the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, co-chair of the Power of 32 regional visioning project and president, Power of 32 Site Development Fund, LLC.
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.
“This fund is a response to the demand we’re seeing from the market for more shovel-ready sites. Simply put, we have more companies that want to locate here than we have places for them to locate. When those 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.
“We’re very aware of the need for shovel-ready sites and that we need to do more to capture these business investment opportunities for the region. The Conference agreed to lead this initiative and a number of our members have stepped up to support the Fund,” continued Yablonsky.
“We appreciate the confidence that the Power of 32 Site Development Fund is demonstrating in our project with this new investment. This funding will help us bring this site to market faster and see more jobs and more capital investment in our part of the region,” said Jim Joseph, co-owner, Trimodal Terminal, LP.
The Fund’s 14 limited partners are:
- Allegheny Conference on Community Development
- Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
- Dollar Bank, FSB
- First Commonwealth Bank
- First Niagara
- Henry L. Hillman Foundation
- Highmark Inc.
- Huntington Bank
- PNC Bank
- Peoples Natural Gas
- Richard King Mellon Foundation
- S&T Bank
- Strategic Investment Fund Partners
- United Bank
The Fund is continuing to take applications for investment; please visit the Fund’s website (www.P32SiteFund.com) for more information.
To be eligible for investment by the Fund, a site must be located within the following 32 counties of the Greater Pittsburgh economic region:
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Pennsylvania
Allegheny
Armstrong
Beaver
Bedford
Blair
Butler
Cambria
Fayette
Greene
Indiana
Lawrence
Mercer
Somerset
Washington
Westmoreland
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West Virginia
Brooke
Hancock
Harrison
Marion
Marshall
Monongalia
Ohio
Preston
Tyler
Wetzel
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Ohio
Belmont
Columbiana
Jefferson
Mahoning
Monroe
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Maryland
Allegany
Garrett
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About the Power of 32 Site Development Fund LP
The Power of 32 Site Development Fund LP is overseen by a Board of Managers. Callay Capital LLC serves as the Fund Manager and is the point of contact for projects seeking investment from the Fund.
The Fund is built on the belief that successful business investment depends on all the strengths of the 32-county region regardless of geographic boundaries, and that an investment in real estate at any one location benefits the region as a whole.
Media Contact:
Phil Cynar, Allegheny Conference
pcynar@alleghenyconference.org
412-281-4783, x4573
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