In 2002, four southwestern Pennsylvania foundations formed a limited partnership with the non-profit development organization, RIDC, and purchased the 178-acre LTV Steel Hazelwood site. The partnership, known as Almono, envisions a master-planned development that maximizes local and regional impact, and employs development and economic best practices to establish a world-class sustainable innovation district. Situated along the Monongahela River, just south of downtown Pittsburgh in the Hazelwood neighborhood, the project is an opportunity to set a new standard for post-industrial urban riverfront development.
The quarter-mile long Mill 19 (equal in size to about five football fields) and its immediate surrounds will be the first parcel developed through a three-phase process. Stories of J&L Steel (1884 to 1974) and LTV Coke Works (1974-1998) continue to echo through generations of Steel City residents. More than a century of workers toiled away on this very ground to provide the much-needed steel for the nation. The few traces of history that remain on the site (Mill 19, Roundhouse, Pump house, barge docks and rail lines) resonate with Hazelwood neighbors and remind new generations of residents that the inventive spirit and industrial scale of the steel yards endure.
Nested within the armature of the former steel mill, three new autonomous buildings will include offices, space for light manufacturing, research and development. Exposing and editing the Mill’s structure celebrates the history of labor and supports a PV array for future industries in the shadows of trusses and the open air of a new public plaza, robust storm water channel, and industrial ruin garden. The mammoth steel structure becomes legibly grounded to the site, revealing the rich history and regenerative future of this place while providing new landscapes made from remnants of this site that encourage inhabitation by people who live here, will work here and visit here.
Firmly grounded in an understanding of the metrics of the project’s challenges (soil contamination, progressive sustainability goals, economic growth generation to maximize impact, activation of the site both for workers and the Hazelwood community, and preservation of industrial heritage all within market rate rents which yield a very tight construction budget ), the Mill 19 design lays the groundwork for a new type of regional economic hub that celebrates Pittsburgh’s tough industrial legacy, instigates growth and renewal, and reconnects the community to one of the region’s most beautiful assets – the Monongahela River.
Environmental sustainability, including alternative sources of energy, storm and waste water management and transportation innovation are key components of the plan. The expansive site offers the opportunity to filter and collect the immense volume of water from the site and new buildings. A large storm water filtration channel is nested along the west side of the Mill and provides an opportunity to blur the relationship between inside and outside, as well as showcase biotechnologies interwoven between the landscape and the Mill to visibly set the bar for the sustainable goals of the Masterplan.
Client: Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC)