A Leetsdale-based developer is planning a large-scale warehouse and distribution campus on 300 acres in Findlay Township, near Pittsburgh International Airport.
Chapman Properties bought the parcel of strip-mined land, close to the Findlay Connector, earlier this year. It started to market the project this month.
The company is planning to build a total of 2 million square feet of industrial space in a development to be called Chapman Commerce Center, said president and CEO Steve Thomas.
Major national retailers have built enormous distribution centers around the country in recent years, but the hilly terrain in southwestern Pennsylvania has made such projects difficult and expensive to build. Thomas said he believes his land will open up that opportunity for the Pittsburgh region.
"A lot of other markets have 1-million-square-foot pads for Home Depot and others," he said. "They handle a lot of stores, and they need large facilities."
A plan for Chapman Properties' site shows three buildings of 300,000 square feet or more. The plan also includes a 50-acre shovel-ready site -- large enough to hold a building of 1 million square feet, Thomas said.
Site work will begin around the end of this year or in early 2007, he said. The first speculative building, which will be between 80,000 and 100,000 square feet, will open before the end of 2007.
"We can accommodate anything from a 20,000-square-foot user to a 1-million-square-foot user, which is unusual for Pittsburgh," Thomas said. "There's not a lot of large shovel-ready pads that can accommodate the buildings that you've seen in other markets."
Thomas believes the park will be successful because of its location three minutes from the airport and its accessibility from the Findlay Connector, a highway currently under construction by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. The road is expected to open this fall, and water and sewer infrastructure will be built soon afterward.
In addition to the speculative industrial space, Chapman also will offer six office pad sites, including two 20-acre sites that face the Findlay Connector.
Chapman Properties purchased the Findlay parcel from Imperial Land Corp., which owns more than 5,000 acres in Allegheny and Washington counties, near U.S. 22 and the Findlay Connector.
Imperial-based Imperial Land has an agreement with Chapman Properties that both parties expect will keep them from competing head-to-head for the next five years.
Chapman will build speculative industrial property, while Imperial will focus on selling land directly to users.
Gerald Bunda, president of Imperial Land, said his strategy focuses on extremely large users.
"Typically, most sites, the infrastructure is put in, and someone will come in and acquire a 10-acre or 15-acre site," Bunda said. "We're looking at it a bit differently. What if someone needs 200 acres?"
Imperial Land is staying out of the speculative construction business, hoping to sell major chunks of land for campuses. When most industrial parks are developed, and a road is built through the middle of a tract of land, it helps small users but can be an obstacle for a big user who wants the entire property, Bunda said.
"Our intent is to sell to people who want to build buildings for specific users," he said. "Hopefully, maybe, somebody will want to come in and do a campus development."
Lou Oliva, an industrial broker with Downtown-based Grubb and Ellis Co., who represents Imperial Land and works with Chapman on other properties, said Imperial Land and Chapman's holdings could create as much as 10 million square feet of industrial space, just a quick drive from the airport.
The properties' access to the Findlay Connector makes them attractive, he said. "I think it's the best development opportunity in the region."