By Sam Spatter, Trib Total Media staff writer
Friday, Aug. 15, 2014, 3:45 p.m.
Students at the Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf in Edgewood soon could get new living quarters.
A $9 million project to build a residence for them got a $200,000 assist on Friday when the board of directors of the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County approved a grant through the Allegheny County Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund.
The approval was among more than a half-dozen projects the board approved, one for which the county’s Department of Economic Development will issue a request for proposals for the 15-acre Cochrandale site in Duquesne.
The School for the Deaf is putting $5.5 million into its project and conducting a fundraising campaign that has received close to $1 million.
The residence will replace one that is about 100 years old.
The school, with about 350 students annually, employs 170 people.
The Cochrandale project took several years to reach the point where proposals are being accepted.
Since purchasing the property from the county Housing Authority, RAAC obtained 120 parcels, including 20 with occupied houses. After relocating the residents, the authority moved ahead on demolishing the structures, installing a road (Wylie Avenue) through the site, and widening Route 837, which adjoins the property.
“We expect to issue the request for proposals in about a week and usually it takes about 45 days before opening any bids,” said Dennis Davin, the authority’s executive director and director of the county’s Department of Economic Development.
“Our hope is to have the site developed, either by a single or multi-number of developers, for light industrial or flex office space,” he said.
Sam Spatter is a Trib Total Media staff writer. Reach him at 412-320-7843 or sspatter@tribweb.com.
Source: Trib Total Media