The new owner of the former Calgon Corp. complex at Steubenville Pike and Campbells Run Road expects to announce the first new office and retail tenants for the property within the next few weeks.
But township commissioners are concerned about the impact the new tenants will have on traffic in the already congested area.
The Sampson Group of Plum bought the 27.5 acre, three-building complex at 5400 Campbells Run Road from Calgon for $6.45 million in November. Michael Morris, co-owner and president of The Sampson Group, said his company is talking with several clients but no leases have been signed. He would not identify the potential tenants, which he said could number from three to 20.
Morris said there has been a "tremendous amount of interest" in the property.
"We are quite excited about turning a functionally obsolete property into a project that both we and Robinson can be proud of," he said. "Robinson already has its share of retail. Now, hopefully, we can get some people in there who will buy more homes in Robinson and service the retail that's already there."
The Sampson Group owns and manages 3 million square feet of flex and office space in the Pittsburgh area. Its properties include the Parkway West and Vista industrial parks in Robinson.
Morris said the asking rates for the office space at the former Calgon property will be between $18 and $20 per square foot. The main building on the site consists of 105,000 square feet, while the others are 40,000 and 35,000 square feet.
Morris said his company is demolishing the interiors of the buildings, replacing windows and redoing the buildings' facades. The site also will receive new landscaping, sidewalks and paved areas. He would not say how much the company is spending on the improvements.
Morris said all of the 30,000 to 50,000 square feet of laboratory space in the buildings is being removed because there was no demand for any of it.
"It's in the wrong end of town. Everyone wants to be in Oakland who wants labs," he said. "There is high demand for affordable office space. A lot of people are looking to reconfigure their existing space and combine several locations to cut costs in a suburban campus location with accessibility to the airport and Downtown. We have that at that location."
Morris said two 1.5-acre parcels on the site will be subdivided for retail use. The property will be reshaped to allow for parking and accessibility. Morris said the retail development could include a restaurant, dry cleaner or fitness center.
In a traffic impact study submitted to PennDOT, the company indicated the development would consist of general office space plus a drive-in bank, a convenience market with fueling and a high-turnover sit-down restaurant, said Frank Cippel, assistant district traffic engineer with District 11 in Collier Township.
At a recent meeting of the township commissioners, Commissioner Dan Tallon expressed concern about the impact on traffic that development on the property could have. Specifically, he was concerned about a Verizon office with 650 employees locating there.
"Why don't we just put signs on Steubenville Pike saying enter at your own risk?" Tallon asked.
Rick Urbano, the township's planning director, said Sampson Group would need to meet requirements for the intersection set by Allegheny County and PennDOT.
Cippel said required traffic improvements will be determined based on PennDOT's review of Sampson Group's traffic and access study. Cippel said the study will examine the development's impact on traffic for 10 years into the future. Five intersections are under review on Steubenville Pike, from Park Manor Drive to Hightower Boulevard, while three are under review on Campbells Run Road, which is a county road.
Cippel said Sampson Group is not being required to consider the 22/30 interchange, which he said would require millions of dollars and a major state project to upgrade.
Morris said traffic concerns will be addressed during a site plan review and that his company will contribute toward whatever traffic improvements are required.
"I'm assured that the improvements we are proposing will more than adequately cover any additional traffic we create in addition to the traffic that was already coming from the site when Calgon occupied it," Morris said. "The retail we want to develop on this site is convenience retail for the use of the office space. The idea is this will be a campus development or mini town square kind of development."
