“Taking these old buildings and repurposing them, bringing them back to life can take a lot of years and a lot of hard work,” said RIDC President Donald F. Smith, Jr. “That’s one of the reasons RIDC exists, because for for-profit developers, they can’t invest the money and carry that investment until it pays off down the road. RIDC can take that kind of patient approach to putting things together.”

RIDC Board Chair Samuel Stephenson pointed out that “these buildings are going to create a lot of ancillary opportunities to grow other businesses on the site. In the past, the Pittsburgh region was focusing more on life sciences companies. And with this facility, we’ll be able to do that again in a more robust manner.”

RIDC’s Don Smith: Economic development benefits from catalytic projects – Pittsburgh Business Times

When the Regional Industrial Development Corporation took over Mill 19 at Hazelwood Green and transformed it into a symbol of Pittsburgh’s tech-driven turnaround, it was the only project underway on that site.