Uber test track adds to developments planned around Pittsburgh airport

Uber’s proposed test track promising up to 200 jobs in Findlay Township is an example of exponential growth happening with near lightning speed around Pittsburgh International Airport, an official said Friday.

Uber Technologies last week closed on a $9.5 million deal with Moon-based Imperial Land Corp. to purchase 600 acres in Findlay several miles north of Route 22 near the Washington County line, according to Imperial President Gerald F. Bunda.

He said the location is just north of the Southern Beltway, a 13.2-mile highway under construction that will link the airport and Interstate 376 to I-79 at Southpointe.

Chris Heck, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Airport Area Chamber of Commerce, said the Uber track is at the epicenter of a development spike happening around the airport and I-376.

“I would say that this is just another example of the exponential growth that we’re seeing in the airport area,” Heck said. “The Uber test track is right in the heart of it. It’s exciting stuff, that’s for sure.”

Officials have identified a geographical swath running from the Shell cracker plant under construction in Beaver County to Southpointe in Washington County as the Energy Commerce and Innovation Corridor. Heck said development is popping up quickly along that corridor.

It includes the Chapman Commerce Center one mile south of the airport in Findlay where Amazon is building a $30 million warehouse that will employ about 800 people and Neighborhood 91, a proposed center for additive manufacturing on airport property in Findlay and Moon.

Uber spokeswoman Sarah Abboud confirmed the land purchase, but declined to share details about the track.

Uber’s autonomous vehicles subsidiary, the Advanced Technologies Group, will remain in Pittsburgh’s Strip District, she said, but the company is looking to relocate its test track now in Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood on the site of a former steel mill. A lease in the Hazelwood Green development expires in 2023 and is not expected to be renewed, Abboud said.

Bunda said Imperial closed the deal with Uber on the property acquisition on Dec. 19. He said the test track would be located directly behind Amazon’s warehouse and near a distribution center for Gordon Food Service.

“With Amazon going in there, and Gordon Food has a couple hundred people, and now with Uber, I think it’s very good news for Findlay Township and the (West Allegheny) school district,” he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.