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If all goes to plan, the former U.S. Steel site in Falls could be transformed into the largest industrial park on the East Coast within the next decade.
Pending a purchase of the site, a proposal from Kansas City, Missouri-based industrial developer NorthPoint would invest more than $1 billion into remediation and , redevelopment to make way for 10 million square feet of warehouses and logistics centered industrial buildings at the 1,800-acre site.
If those plans are realized, redevelopment inside the Keystone Industrial Port Complex could expand to 15 million square feet at an investment cost of $1.5 billion — making it the largest e-commerce, logistics and multi-model industrial project in the Northeast. Each warehouse is expected to be between 1 million to 2 million square feet.
“Our vision is to create a class A industrial park and completely redevelop what’s out there today,” Jed Momot, NorthPoint chief strategy officer, said during a township planning commission meeting Wednesday.
With more than a dozen new buildings, the project dubbed Keystone Trade Center could bring between 5,000 to 10,000 jobs back to an area that lost thousands of positions when the steel plant closed nearly two decades ago.
“I think it will certainly be a shot in the arm for the local and regional economy,” Momot said.
This may not be such good news for Newtown Township, which has plans to entice new high-tech businesses to the Business Commons located on Newtown-Yardley Road.
The 5-Year Financial Plan by Econsult Solutions also suggested that Newtown - with the assistance of regional economic development agencies – “should work to reevaluate and foster the local business community” and specifically recommended to “examine the capacity of Newtown business spaces such as the Business Commons.”
This was discussed at the July 2, 2020, Zoom meeting of the Newtown Economic Development Committee (EDC). Listen to local business leaders discuss “Bringing New Businesses to Newtown.”
NOTE: The site was previously considered for the Elcon hazardous waste treatment facility. That plan was shot down by Falls Supervisors in May, 2019 (read “Victory! Falls Supervisors Reject Elcon Plan.”