RIDC to help market South Buffalo's Northpointe Industrial Park to potential developers

The Regional Industrial Development Corp. of Southwestern Pennsylvania is stepping in to help market 115 acres of undeveloped land at South Buffalo’s Northpointe Industrial Park.

Owned by the Armstrong County Industrial Development Council, the industrial park covers more than 800 acres. While it is home to tenants that include universities, Fortune 500 companies and local and regional businesses, the park hasn’t built out as successfully as some others in the region.

“Large projects like this one have been RIDC’s specialty,” said Donald F. Smith Jr., president of RIDC, a nonprofit that owns 2,800 acres in 11 industrial parks and manages more than 50 buildings. In the Alle-Kiski Valley, the RIDC Park off Route 28 in O’Hara provides jobs to thousands of workers.

RIDC will take over the marketing of seven lots at Northpointe that range from 5 to 20 acres.

These are large sites that could potentially bring in hundreds of employees per building, Smith said.

“It’s a nicely designed park,” Smith said. “The roadways with a tree-lined boulevard have great curb appeal, and there are some nice development pads.

“And it’s got a great interchange onto Route 28. The ‘bones’ are really good.”

There is a big surge in industrial site demand, Smith said. Development pressure is catching up with the limited availability of sites, he added.

“The market changes have been favorable for development at the Northpointe site,” he said.

Armstrong County Commissioner Pat Fabian said he thinks development in the Route 28 corridor “is primed to explode shortly.”

Fabian said the RIDC is a good partner for Northpointe given its large portfolio of industrial park sites.

“They know the pulse of the region and what developers are looking for, and they are well connected,” Fabian said.

Armstrong County has big plans for Northpointe.

It recently bought 28 acres across Route 28 in South Buffalo, Fabian said. With grants, the county will extend water, sewage and fiber communications networks at the new site next year, he said.

“We hope that our partnership with RIDC will impact residential development and attract more businesses,” he said.