The Commonwealth Financing Authority (CFA) announced the approval of 14 projects this week totaling over $43.6 million in grants and loans, through the Business in Our Sites (BOS) program.

The projects will create shovel-ready sites for businesses through land acquisition, construction and feasibility studies. Since guidelines for Business in Our Sites were approved last fall, the CFA has approved 30 projects totaling more than $75 million.

The brownfields projects include:

Allegheny County: The Allegheny County Airport Authority will receive a $4 million financial package and the Moon Transportation Authority will receive a $2 million loan to develop a 160-acre former strip mine into a business park at the Cherrington Extension site in Moon Township.

Blair County: Chestnut Avenue LP will receive a $6.6 million loan to be used to develop an underutilized railroad property into a new strip retail center in Altoona's Logantown neighborhood.

Cambria County: The Johnstown Redevelopment Authority will receive a $4 million financial package to redevelop the former Sani-Dairy Plant, located in the city of Johnstown.

Dauphin County: The Capital Region Economic Development Corp. will receive $2.04 million in funding for infrastructure improvements to the remaining 35 acres of the TecPort Business Center, which formerly housed AMP’s world headquarters, in Swatara Township.

Franklin County: The Cumberland Valley Regional Development Corp. will receive $7.05 million for environmental cleanup and infrastructure development for the United Business Park in Southampton Township.

Greene County: The Greene County IDA will receive $5.44 million to develop the EverGreene Technology Park, located in a Keystone Opportunity Zone in Franklin Township on 248 acres of land was previously strip mined.

Lebanon County: The Lebanon Valley Development Corp. will receive a $3.48 million financial package for the development of the Lebanon Valley Business Park in South Lebanon Township located on 133 acres formerly owned by Alcoa.

Luzerne County: Greater Hazleton Can DO Inc. will receive a $2.77 million loan to develop Phase II of Humboldt Industrial Park East, located in a former brownfield/ greyfield site and designated a Keystone Opportunity Zone.

The Greater Pittston Chamber of Commerce will receive a $1.18 million financial package for land acquisition and infrastructure development at the former Avoca Rail Yards in Duryea, which is a brownfield site and designated a Keystone Opportunity Zone.

Washington County: The Washington County Authority will receive a $3.5 million financial package to fund the development of the Town Center at Southpointe II in Cecil Township. The 221-acre brownfield site, formerly the Western Center state-run institution for the mentally ill, will be located adjacent to Southpointe I and will incorporate entertainment venues, restaurants and marketplaces.

Planning grants were approved for the following projects:

Blair County: The Altoona-Blair County Development Corp. will receive a $33,100 Business in Our Sites planning grant to assist the Borough of Tyrone with predevelopment planning for a new hotel complex at a former blighted site on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Dauphin County: The Borough of Steelton will receive a $175,000 planning grant to be used for the Front Street Redevelopment Project, which will create 300,000-square-feet of new commercial, professional office and residential units. This project will redevelop between seven and 10 vacant or blighted buildings in an effort to revitalize downtown Steelton.

Lancaster County: The EDC Finance Corporation will receive a $175,000 planning grant for 45 acres of the Armstrong World Industries site located in a designated Keystone Opportunity Zone. The funds will be used for an environmental assessment, remediation plan, building reuse and demolition study, development of a master plan and marketing study.

The Commonwealth Financing Authority is a seven-member board, created to administer and fund projects from programs created to oversee the Business in Our Sites, the Tax Increment Financing Guarantee (TIF), First Industries Fund, New PA Venture Capital Investment, New Pennsylvania Venture Guarantee, Building PA, PennWorks, and the and Second Stage Loan programs.

For more information, visit the Business in Our Sites webpage or call 1-866-GO-NEWPA (1-866-466-3972).

1/21/2005