$1M grant will help prep former Sony industrial site in East Huntingdon for tenants

A $1 million state grant is expected to cover close to half the costs of planned infrastructure improvements at RIDC Westmoreland Innovation Center, the former Sony television plant in East Huntingdon.

The grant will help pay for work on a few hundred thousand square feet in the southeastern corner of the plant, to make it ready for potential new industrial tenants, according to Tim White, senior vice president for business development and strategy with the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania.

The East Huntingdon facility covers 2.8 million square feet. It is one of more than a dozen area industrial sites developed by the not-for-profit, Pittsburgh-based RIDC.

“We have been working through the plant one section at time, marching around in a circle,” said White. “We’ve broken it up into a multi-tenant facility so as not to have all our eggs in one basket. Manufacturers with family-sustaining jobs are our primary target.”

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Westmoreland County commissioners last week accepted the grant for the project through the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program. The RIDC Westmoreland Phase IV project is expected to cost more than $2 million, with remaining funds obtained through private financing, White said.

He said the work includes preparing the southeastern section of the plant to provide metering for separate utilities and to meet fire code requirements for multiple long-term tenants.

Bids are being sought for the infrastructure work. If all goes well, construction could be completed within about a year, according to Jason Rigone, executive director of the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corporation.

Redevelopment of the former Sony plant “has been very successful to date,” Rigone said. “There are about 1,200 jobs in that facility.”

Roughly 1.4 million square feet, or about 70% of the building’s first floor, is under lease, according to White. Development of upper-floor spaces will be more challenging, he said.

Long-term tenants include Siemens Energy, Argo AI, Intervala, DNP, Cenveo, City Brewing and the Westmoreland County Community College Advanced Technology Center.