RIDC sells historic roundhouse in McKeesport

A remnant of U.S. Steel’s operations in McKeesport has a new owner.

RIDC has sold the historic McKeesport Connecting Railroad roundhouse to W&E Investment LLC for $273,000.

The four-acre parcel is located at RIDC’s Industrial Center of McKeesport.

The McKeesport Connecting Railroad was a division of U.S. Steel that connected the National Tube Works Co. and later U.S. Steel’s National Works, to the Pennsylvania, Baltimore & Ohio and Pittsburgh & Lake Erie railroads.

W&E Investments is evaluating several business opportunities for the property, according to Tom Evans, W&E Investments co-owner.

“W&E’s investment is an important sign of confidence in the future of the Mon Valley and the region as a whole,” Donald Smith Jr., RIDC president, said in a statement.

The roundhouse is the last building at the RIDC site that hasn’t been bought or occupied, Smith said.

The 133-acre Industrial Center of McKeesport was once home to several metal tube and pipe mill companies. Starting in 1990, RIDC began environmental remediation, site cleanup and building renovations.

RIDC owns eight buildings totaling over 733,000 square feet. Privately-owned buildings in the park include Peoples Gas and Duquesne Light.

Pipe manufacturer Dura-Bond Industries leased the 317,000 square-foot idle U.S. Steel McKeesport plant from RIDC and plans to reactivate the facility.

PurePenn LLC, a medical marijuana growing and processing center, is building a 20,000 square-foot facility on five acres at the site.

Other tenants include American Textile Company and Trillium Flow Technologies, a subsidiary of Weir Valve & Controls USA

River Materials Inc., a supplier of raw materials, began development in spring 2019 for an intermodal facility on 18 acres of the former U.S. Steel National Works. The facility will employ about 50 people and be used for warehousing, processing and recycling.

River Materials also plans to construct buildings for offices, storage and light manufacturing, as well as a railroad car and barge remediation facility.