Located in Marshall and Cranberry Townships along the border of Allegheny and Butler counties, this 925-acre park totals 3 million square feet of industrial space. More than 100 companies occupy the park, including Mitsubishi Electric, Eaton, and rue21. The United States Post Office has a bulk mail facility on 75 acres of the park, and the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) has had its headquarters at the park since 1973.
RIDC owns one building in Thorn Hill Industrial Park—the multi-tenant Thorn Hill Corporate Center with Verizon as an anchor tenant, along with over 50 acres for future development in this park and the nearby Innovation Ridge at Thorn Hill.
In July 2019, RIDC sold the Commonwealth Manor I & II buildings to Elmhurst Group. Commonwealth Manor I, a 45,900 square foot building, was built in 1977, and Commonwealth Manor II, 60,300 square feet, was built in 1987. The cost of construction and improvements for both buildings over the years has totaled $9.13 million.
RIDC President Donald Smith said: “Our goal at Thorn Hill Industrial Park was to build a great industrial park and then catalyze its growth with spec buildings. With that mission accomplished, this sale allows us to redeploy funds into new economic development projects to grow the region’s economy.”
Tenants at Commonwealth Manor I included Kadmon Pharmaceuticals (formerly 3 Rivers Pharmaceuticals), and at Commonwealth Manor II, Zambelli Fireworks, ECM Pharmaceuticals, Dyson, Microbac, and RDS (Retail Data Systems). They remained in place after the sale as Elmhurst marketed remaining space to new tenants.
RIDC Senior Vice President of Development Tim White said: “RIDC’s long-term partnership with Allegheny County and patient investments to redevelop Thorn Hill Industrial Park, formerly the site of the Thorn Hill Home for Waverly Boys, has helped bring jobs and the pharma and tech companies that are driving the economy of northern Allegheny County.”
In continuation of RIDC’s successful joint venture with Elmhurst Group, who partnered with us to develop the now fully leased Commons, as well as the recently completed 60,000 square-foot Heights at Thorn Hill flex building, either a three story 75,000 square foot office building or another flex building will be built next.
