Two regional development agencies have completed the acquisition of a former Alcoa plant in New Kensington with the goal of making it the economic hub of the Alle-Kiski Valley.
The purchase of the New Kensington Advanced Manufacturing Park by a joint venture involving the Westmoreland County Industrial Development and Regional Industrial Development corporations comes five months after Massachusetts-based Re:Build Manufacturing committed to building a 175,000-square-foot plant at the site.
RIDC and WCIDC are buying the property from the New Kensington redevelopment authority in exchange for assuming about $10.7 million in park-related debt held by the latter.
In finalizing the acquisition, WCIDC Chairman Sean Kertes said the goal is to transform the 1.1-million-square-foot complex into “a center of advanced manufacturing.”
“This complex, which Alcoa’s precursor company started developing in 1892, is going to be key to attracting quality businesses and skilled manufacturing jobs back to the New Kensington and Arnold area in the 21st century,” he said.
Straddling the New Ken and Arnold borders, the property for decades housed the Alcoa-New Kensington Works and once served as the aluminum maker’s main production and research facilities.
Alcoa closed the plant in 1971. After a period of private ownership, it was purchased by the New Kensington redevelopment authority in 2018.
“Over the past several months, we have been assessing the condition of the entire property and developing our plan for improving existing buildings, marketing the location and positioning the site to become a center of economic activity once again,” RIDC President Don Smith said. “Revitalization will take time, but we are committed to moving forward and making progress.”
Earlier this year, Re:Build — chaired and co-founded by Jeff Wilke, a former Amazon executive who grew up in Green Tree — reached an agreement with RIDC and WCIDC to repurpose existing space in the park for its advanced manufacturing plant.
Work on the plant, expected to employ as many as 300 people, has already started. The facility plans to make complex subcomponents and finished products for a host of different industries, including those involving aircraft, electric vehicles, medical devices and new kinds of power production.
“We don’t intend to stop there. This redevelopment effort and projects such as the Digital Foundry at New Kensington are sending a very clear message that Westmoreland County is serious about being an advanced-manufacturing hotbed for decades to come,” WCIDC Vice Chairman Doug Chew said.
In addition to Re:Build, the 69.7-acre property currently is home to seven other companies that occupy 495,117 square feet of space.
This isn’t the first joint venture between RIDC and WCIDC. The two also have been partnering in redeveloping the 350-acre former Sony plant in East Huntingdon.
Re:Build chose New Kensington and the advanced manufacturing park over several other cities, including Cleveland and Akron. It expects to move into the first phase of the plant early next year.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com
First Published: October 18, 2023, 10:09 p.m.
Updated: October 18, 2023, 11:23 p.m.