By Tory N. Parrish

Published: Thursday, March 22, 2012

Children's Hospital plans to open a facility in South Fayette in early spring 2014, a UPMC official said on Wednesday night after the township commissioners selected the nonprofit's bid for 2.6 acres of property next to the former Star City Cinema.

The five commissioners unanimously chose Lawrenceville-based Children's Hospital over real estate firm Langholz Wilson Ellis Inc., Downtown, as the winning bidder for the property on Hickory Grade Road.

Children's Hospital plans to build an $18.5 million facility to house pediatric services to be relocated from Bethel Park.

A Langholz subsidiary, 1772 Inc., had planned to build a $7.2 million retail and office development on the site.

Interim township Manager Marshall Bond said that Langholz submitted a bid $1.68 million, while the bid from Children's was $1.65 million.

The commissioners' final decision, however, factored in longer-range benefits for the township, including an offer by Children's Hospital, a tax-exempt entity, to guarantee that 50 percent of the value of its planned four-story, 60,000-square-foot building would be taxable, Bond said.

Bond said the hospital project is expected to generate $30,000 more in revenue for the township over five years than the Langholz project.

Children's pledged to contribute $100,000 to the township's planned $7 million Civic Center.

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