Developer selected for former Monsour site in Jeannette
The former site of the Monsour Medical Center in Jeannette is slated to become a new retail center.
Westmoreland County officials on Wednesday said a deal has been reached with developer Colony Holdings Co. to buy the vacant 6.4-acre property on Route 30 for $2.1 million.
The agreement is expected to be approved next week by county commissioners.
Colony owner Don Tarosky Jr. said initial plans call for a strip mall with eight spaces for retail and offices to be built in the middle of the property with a gas station and convenience store at one end and another retail site at the other end of the development.
“The project is of great importance to us. We're a local company with an all-Westmoreland County civil, architectural and construction team. We are excited to keep this project 100 percent in county. I grew up in Jeannette and drive by the site daily,” Tarosky said.
Details and agreements with tenants won't be announced until the property sale is finalized, he said.
The project was one of three pitched to the county and evaluated by a committee of local development officials, according to April Kopas, the executive director of the Westmoreland County Land Bank, which owned the property.
“We went with a developer we knew had the ability to deliver similar projects and can actually recruit tenants. Our folks knew Colony could do the job well and it was a relevant type of market.”
The purchase price will essentially repay the county's Industrial Development Corp., which spent more than $2 million in local funds and state grants to demolish the buildings and remove asbestos and other hazardous materials on site, according to Kopas.
The land bank will recoup some administrative expenses but will primarily receive half of the total taxes generated by the property over the next five years. Kopas estimated that could net the agency up to $175,000.
Jeannette officials said development of the former Monsour site is a long time in coming and a sign that the economic future of the struggling town is on the rise.
“It's a good marquee for the city as an entrance and hopefully the first step in a process of what can be a group of redevelopments,” said Jeannette solicitor Scott Avolio. “This site was a constant reminder over the last 10 years of a bad thing. It will now create jobs and commerce for the city.”
Construction of what is being called Jayhawk Commons could begin next summer, Tarosky said.
His company developed a number of commercial and retail projects throughout Westmoreland County, including revamping Norwin Town Square in North Huntingdon, Wildcat Commons in Unity and Countryside Shopping Center in East Huntingdon.
The Monsour site has sat vacant for the last year since the county's Land Bank purchased the tax delinquent property for about $15,000 at a 2014 judicial sale. Demolition of the large tower and other buildings that made up the former hospital and medical center was completed in 2016.
The once-private hospital was founded in the 1950s by the Monsour family but closed in 2006 after the facility failed a series of state inspections.
The crumbling buildings sat vacant for about a decade.
Rich Cholodofsky is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-830-6293 or rcholodofsky@tribweb.com.
