U.S. Ambassador Kirk Tours Airport-Area Development Sites

U.S. Trade Representative Ronald Kirk caught a glimpse of Pittsburgh International Airport-area development during a tour with county officials Friday afternoon. 

Kirk, along with Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and United Steelworkers president Leo Gerard, toured developed and shovel-ready sites surrounding the airport's grounds, including Dick's Sporting Goods' headquarters and the planned World Trade Center complex site just outside of the Findlay terminal. 

Kirk serves on President Obama's cabinet as a principal trade advisor and negotiator

Ten sites, including the Moon-based Cherrington Commerce Park and the Airside Business Park were featured on the tour, in which county officials touted growth in development in Pittsburgh's airport region. 

"The market's really started to pick up," said Randy Forrister, senior director of development for the Allegheny County Airport Authority. "There's been a decent amount of interest (from developers) in I'd say the past nine months." 

Airport officials are requesting $15 million in grant assistance from the state to develop a 195-acre tract of land outside of the terminal, which lies in Pittsburgh's Foreign Trade Zone. 

The Findlay land could one day house more than a million square-feet in office space, including research facilities, warehouses and light industrial operations. 

County officials held up businesses such as Dick's Sporting Goods and the Clinton Commerce Park's FedEx and Flabeg outposts as examples of companies who have made the airport region home. 

Undeveloped land surrounding the airport, including the planned World Trade Center site and the shovel-ready Northfield Phase One, which is slated to serve as a business and cargo site, requires years of remediation to prep for development, Forrister said, citing the region's strip mining history and hilly terrain.  

"When companies come here, they want to develop now," Forrister said. "It takes 18 months to prepare the site (for construction) and another two to three years to get all of the approvals and permits. If you don't have those sites ready (for developers) businesses won't come here." 

Forrister said the airport authority will begin infrastructure work this fall on additional office space at the 65-acre Airside Business Park, which served as the former terminal for Pittsburgh International. 

The additional office buildings could open in 2013, Forrister said. 

"We'll be replacing two sewer lines and putting a driveway into the site," Forrister said. "Then we'll be handing it over to the developer."