Projects
Robena Site Playbook Project
Coal Refuse Disposal Area is an excellent opportunity for repositioning
TRC has created a redevelopment plan to bring commercial and industrial development back to a 1,000-acre property
Challenges
The Robena Coal Refuse Disposal Area (CRDA) (the “Site”) is a lush 1,000-acre property with 3,100 feet along the Monongahela River in Greene County, Pennsylvania, allowing for exceptional railway, waterway and roadway access. Once a bustling mining operation for Pennsylvania’s steel industry, the Site devolved from hosting the largest mechanized mine in the U.S. to more moderate surface mining operations, eventually retiring to an unused property.
The Robena Coal Refuse Disposal Area
The Site is a lush 1,000-acre property with exceptional railway, waterway and roadway access.
Solutions
The Site provided an excellent opportunity for redevelopment, particularly since large sites that can accommodate commercial and industrial growth are rare in the Southwest Pennsylvania region. TRC was hired by the Pennsylvania Department of Commerce and Economic Development (PA DCED) to prepare market-focused information highlighting the site’s potential and desirability for region-enhancing growth and economic diversification.
TRC created a redevelopment “Playbook” for the Robena Site that offers a selection of redevelopment “Plays”, i.e., various optional and recommended reuse strategies. Combining useful Site data and detailed market information, this document aided industrial site selectors and the economic development community in better understanding the redevelopment options at the Robena Site. PA DCED commissioned the Playbook to facilitate future due diligence efforts by investors and interested parties regardless of their priorities and goals.
The Playbook provides
- The site’s history;
- A market analysis of regional investment/development needs and available resources, labor market information, and regional skillsets;
- A list of site assets, attributes, and constraints (i.e., existing permit requirements);
- Stakeholder interviews regarding desired and potential site uses;
- Several potential reuse strategies that fit the region’s development needs and opportunities;
- Conceptual cost estimates for future site use; and
- Recommended actions and conceptual schedules.
The Playbook
TRC created a redevelopment “Playbook” for the Site that offers a selection of redevelopment “Plays”, i.e., various optional and recommended reuse strategies.
Results
Ultimately, this Playbook serves as a single, organized source of information about the Site to stimulate discussion, creative thought and future considerations for site redevelopment. The Playbook also includes pre-development strategies to successfully position the Site for redevelopment.
| Successful Redevelopment |
| The Playbook allows developers and stakeholders to gain a comprehensive overview of the Site. |
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