Development expected to flourish at park
The Fayette County Business Park will shrink to only 90 vacant acres after the Fayette County commissioners remove a deed restriction Friday from seven parcels already slated for development. Raymond C. Polaski, executive director of the Fayette County Redevelopment Authority, passed that word along Tuesday while briefing his own board at its regular monthly meeting.
Polaski said that removing the “industrial use” deed restriction would open the floodgate that unleashes a backlog of development.
“These folks can then get their financing,” said Polaski of the seven proposals, dating back to the start of this year, on which the redevelopment authority has already approved land sales. They include a 37-acre parcel for Armstrong Development and a 25-acre parcel for Cedarwood Development Inc., both for massive commercial projects.
Of the 90 remaining acres, Polaski said that about 60 are positioned for further commercial or business development, with the remainder earmarked for residential construction because of the contour and location of that segment of land.
Part of the problem with developing those 60 acres, though, is that it covers a “huge gully” that must be filled in first, said Polaski, who noted, “All of this can be worked out on about a two-year clock.”
Another eight acres could become available for development if the authority is successful in getting overhead utility lines rerouted and moved underground, said Polaski. Currently, the way those lines traverse the parcel, located to the right of Matthew Drive as it enters the park from New Salem Road, makes it problematic for development, he added.
As part of his briefing, Polaski also said that he’s negotiating with the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission to have Matthew Drive built through the park as a single project rather than segments. He said the turnpike has agreed to fund 1,500 feet of that road as it enters the park from Fan Hollow Road, with the authority funding the remaining 2,300 feet.
Polaski said that the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation also plans to do a major upgrade of Route 40 next spring and summer, a project that will yield new stoplights at the park’s Wayland Smith Drive entrance and at the entrance of the Cedarwood project.
“Over a period of time, there will be three (stop) lights,” said Polaski, including one at the intersection of Fan Hollow Road and Route 40.
Board member Ross F. DiMarco said of demand for park land in general, “That’s a hot item there.” Solicitor Herbert Margolis said that the seven prospective tenants are eager to conclude sales and are literally on his back to get things moving from a legal standpoint, something that Friday’s lifting of the deed restriction should accomplish.
Polaski said that the pending Cedarwood development would require removal of 1 million cubic yards of material, which should make filling in the gully in the remaining 60 acres less of a chore. He said that fill material is being placed in a similar depression on the smaller parcel slated for sale to Synergy Real Estate Corp.