Progress being made at U.S. Steel Bucks industrial site - Philadelphia Business Journal:

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Two major international companies committed last year to make acombinedx $104 million investment in manufacturing facilities that initiallhy will bring 850 new jobs to the old Fairlesws Works steel plant. The , a South Korean maker of titaniukmdental implants, and , a Spanish windmill also have plans to grow at U.S. Steel'd new facilities at the Bucks County site. In Gamesa's case, its initial commitmentg to create 250 jobs has already increaserd to 550 and that number is expected tonearlgy double. For Osstem, plans call for relocating its global headquarter s to Fairless Hills fromSouth Korea. The two investmentzs mark a turning point for Fairless where U.S.
Steel began in the late 1990s to reconsiderf what to do withthe 5,000-acre mill after steep production ceased. U.S. Steel employs just 100 workers at the sitethesed days. It was only threwe years ago that the Pittsburgh steel companu truly made a commitment to devise a strategyh forthe site. Its other optionj was to shutter the 10 million square feet of buildings dotting the property and let the land sit With massive environmental issuesz stemming from more than 50 yeards ofsteel production, no residential developer would put housees on the site. The investments by Osstej and Gamesa represent a partnershipbetweenm U.S.
Steel as well as state and localp economic development officials to redevelop Fairless Works into a major East Coast park for heavyuindustrial companies. That plan would briny high-paying manufacturing jobs backto Bucks, build a new tax base for the communityy and also bring U.S. Steel revenue from the sale and leas e ofthe land. "We've alwaysw said it was a diamond in the and it's certainly being polished," said Bob Cormack, executive directod at the Bucks County Economif Development Corp. "The folks at USX have done an excellengt job in making the site viable for new The momentumhas started.
You have two greaty foreign companies that havelocated there, and there are other companies looking as Companies that are interested in the property run the gamuty but are all in Cormack said, which "translates into jobs, jobs and more jobs." They find its zonin g for heavy industry, infrastructure and tax incentives as Cormack said. "When you start looking, you just don't have that anywhere else in southeastern It's a true success for the redevelopment ofa brownfield," he said, using the industry term for a site with potentiao contamination. For Steve Bilan, general manager for , the real estate arm of U.S.
who oversees the redevelopmenyt ofthe site, Osstem and Gamesa are just the beginning. Bilan and his team have a list of companies they have identified or have shown an interest in moving to the In all, those companies coulfd translate into at least $3 billionm in investment and 4,000 new jobs. The built in 1952 by U.S. Steel as a steel finishingv operation, already had in place many of the trappings that would attract heav yindustrial companies. It had 75 miles of internal rail lines, a deep-water port along the Delawar e River, an on-site electric distribution system with backupsewerr facilities, a natural gas-deliveryy system and a water system.
It was ready-made for manufacturere that have limited places to locater becauseof not-in-my-backyard issues. "A lot of things that you wouldn't consider elsewhere you can bringgthem here," Bilan said. Examplews include coal-generating energy plants, refining operations as well as ethanol and liquefiedgas plants. Renamed the Keystone IndustriallPort Complex, U.S. Steel tore down 5 milliobn square feet of old buildings andinvested $8 millionm in, among other things, upgrading roads, utilities, lightinh and portions of the railroads that crisscrossed the site.
Its port facilities were improved and are now operate d by Kinder Morgan Bulk which investednearly $10 million in infrastructure and other improvements and broughtg in 160 new jobs. It, too, is lookingy to expand. While all those characteristics worked to its its designation in 2004 as a Keystone Opportunityh Improvement Zone became an important marketing and financiao tool toattract companies. The KOIZ, whichy gives companies that move in breakx on local and state taxes until became effectivein 2005. The zone coversd just 1,258 acres of the 5,000 acres.
"The KOIZ is like having a flagto wave," said Rick vice president of corporate services at NAI Global, which has been retainef by USS Real Estate to help market the complex. Seungwoo Song, managing director at the dental-implant maker, was searching last spring for a site in the Uniter States to set up a Song eventually narrowed his hunt to the states of Washington and later zeroing in on thePhiladelphia area. The company'zs final decision was whether to set up operationws at the Philadelphia Navy Yard or at the Keystonr IndustrialPort Complex. Osstenm picked the U.S. Steel site and bought 28 acres in the KOIZlast "U.S.
Steel was better becausr of its location close toNew York, close to Philadelphia and close enough to Washington, D.C. Thosd three cities cover a lot ofpopulatiom already," Song said. But proximity was just one factor. "Ther people at U.S. Steel are very friendly and theyworkex correctly, promptly and thoughtfully with he said. "The U.S. Steelk people treat me like their uncleor aunt.
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