Governor Provides $12M for Development Projects

WASHINGTON, PA-A $100-million mixed-use urban renewal project here is receiving $9 million from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. The funded project is the Crossroads, which focuses on a two-block span of the 14-block revitalization area implemented by the Redevelopment Authority of Washington. RACP is a Commonwealth grant program administered by the Office of the Budget for the acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic and historical improvement projects. Approximately $640 million in RACP funding was approved by the legislature in July as part of Gov. Edward Rendell’s economic-stimulus package.The Crossroads development will include downtown residential living, more than 140,000 sf of new office space, 150,000 sf of street-level retail space, two parking garages totaling 2,000 spaces, an 80-room hotel and entertainment venues including an outdoor amphitheater. The project will result in about 1,200 permanent jobs in the downtown area.The RACP funding was the largest of several checks Rendell handed out for six community and economic-development projects during a visit to the City of Washington.A check for $1 million is helping finalize the Western Center’s master plan and its Phase 1 development plan. The property contains 33 former state buildings, many of which will be demolished because of asbestos. Phase 1 will consist of 81 acres and will cost $2.3 million for demolition and abatement and $4.6 million for site development. This project lies adjacent to Southpointe, one of the most successful business/high tech developments in Pennsylvania, with $270 million in private investments and more than 3,000 jobs. Southpointe II, as the Western Center Project has come to be known, is expected to generate more than $150 million in private investment and create between 2,500 and 3,000 jobs. The Western Center Project is expected to create 7,587 jobs when fully operational.Another $1 million in RACP funds were also awarded for upgrades and enhancements to Alta Vista, a 256-acre KOZ industrial park located at Exit 32 off Interstate 70 in Fallowfield Township. The Middle Monongahela Industrial Development Association purchased four parcels of property and construction began on the former brownfield site in fall 2001. MIDA is working with eight companies interested in locating in Alta Vista that could bring up to 900 jobs to the area.A fourth $1-million check further development of the Starpointe project. Starpointe is the region’s largest business/industrial park. The first phase of the project involved the development of a 148-acre parcel, with pad-ready sites for six prospective customers. This funding will provide for proper sewage treatment, via the Hanover Township Sewer Authority. The Washington County Council on Economic Development reportedly has worked with three business entities that have expressed an interest in the site.