RIDC has also worked on community improvement projects for Downtown Pittsburgh, the Great Allegheny Passage and The Bakery complex in East Liberty, among many others.
RIDC acquired Downtown properties in 1990 to help retain corporate tenants. When these tenants relocated to other locations Downtown, RIDC partnered with the Cultural Trust to convert these vacated properties into residences to encourage downtown living. The conversion of Penn Garrison was completed in 2002 with RIDC managing the complex until it was sold in 2011. These were some of the first new apartments in Downtown, which has now become a residential destination.
Once a smoky city, Pittsburgh has transformed into a place whose residents can enjoy a plethora of recreational outdoor activities. RIDC has facilitated the construction of miles of bike trail – running through parks in McKeesportand Duquesne – on the Great Allegheny Passage which connects downtown Pittsburgh with Washington, D.C. At Hazelwood Green, RIDC is planning for a commuting bike track on the road and a recreation trail near the Monongahela River. RIDC has also constructed trails at its Innovation Ridge development and facilitated construction of trails by Marshall Township in Thorn Hill Industrial Park.
RIDC purchased The Bakery complex in East Liberty after Nabisco left in 1999. The community wanted to retain the bakery’s jobs, and so RIDC helped recruit another bakery, Atlantic Baking, to the facility, as well as started the plan to incorporate community businesses and space for Oakland universities. After the baking company failed, RIDC cleaned and remediated the Bakery building so it could be reused and sold the complex to a private developer.
Today, Bakery Square is a successful multi-use development with Google as its key tenant.
RIDC has invested nearly $100 million in its McKeesport and Duquesne sites, including demolition of several deteriorated structures, a new road network, rehabilitation of several industrial buildings that now house new companies, site access amenities such as flyover ramps and intersection improvements, and new buildings.
The Duquesne and McKeesport sites are home to several successful companies. Dura-Bond, a company that coats steel pipe, constructed a new manufacturing facility in Duquesne in 2012 in order to keep up with demand from Marcellus and Utica Shale gas production.