New Kensington Redevelopment Authority continuing efforts to develop industrial park

It has been almost two years since Affival moved into New Kensington Advanced Manufacturing Park.

The move from Plum has worked out well for the business, which supplies the steel industry with cored wire products used to change the properties of steel.

“A move anywhere was going to be a lot of work,” said Bill Kodatsky, who recently retired as chief operating officer for Opta Group, of which Affival is a part. “What we found was the ability to maintain our supervisory staff as well as our hourly employees who knew how to make cored wire. We moved only about 10 or 12 miles down the road. Almost everybody that we had stayed.”

Affival is among the businesses that have moved into the industrial park since the Redevelopment Authority of the City of New Kensington bought it for about $8 million in 2018. The park covers about 70 acres over more than a mile along the Allegheny River, spanning portions of New Kensington and Arnold.

It previously was the Schreiber Industrial Park. It was Alcoa’s New Kensington Works from 1891 to 1971.

The redevelopment authority bought the park with the goal of making it an asset for the city, rather than seeing it run into the ground, authority Executive Director Bill Herman said.

An immediate challenge the authority faced after acquiring the park was the departure of a major longtime tenant, Siemens.

“The challenge has been leasing space so you cover your shortfalls and are able to pay the bills,” said Herman, a land planner who has been with the authority for about a year. “We’ve been able to bring in tenants and stabilize the income on the property.”

Herman said there are now 19 tenants employing 250 people.

About 60% of the park’s 1.3 million square feet under roof is currently leased, Herman said. There are 20 marketable buildings.

“We have great, functional, affordable space still available,” he said.

Buildings in the park date to 1923, with many built during World War II. Herman described them as one-of-a-kind from a design perspective, with a quality of construction that means they’re “built like tanks.”

The authority is trying to find more tenants and get space ready so it can be occupied quickly.

“We have a unique mix of building types with space that would be perfect for technology incubators and robotics,” he said. “A lot of the space within the city that could be used for technology incubators is full. We have a tremendous amount of square footage for startups.”

New Kensington Mayor Tom Guzzo said the city successfully has attracted businesses and new tenants that have created jobs for not only his community but the entire Alle-Kiski Valley.

“The New Kensington Advanced Manufacturing Park means a great deal to the city,” Guzzo said. “Originally home to Alcoa, we want to honor the history of innovation that began there. So many of us are related to the hardworking people who worked in the park and who helped create our great history.

“We continually make improvements to the park to accommodate the businesses there and to attract new businesses,” Guzzo said. “We have made a great deal of progress and we are continuing our efforts to focus on bringing in more tenants who will provide even more employment opportunities for our people.”

Filterbuy, an air filter manufacturer based in Alabama, opened at the park in August with about 30 workers. It now has 60 full-time employees, with hopes to increase to 100 by the end of June, said Glenna George, human resources manager.

“It’s been very beneficial for us to be in the city,” George said. “It gives us access to a lot of our employees who are local.”

George said the size of the space Filterbuy moved into was important. The company does not build filters on demand, so it needed inventory space in addition to room for production and shipping to service the northeast.

“With this big, open building, it definitely accommodates the different areas,” she said.

Affival moved into a 145,000-square-foot building in the Arnold end of the park that previously housed Siemens.

Kodatsky said its space in Plum was expensive and fragmented for its operations. The space in Arnold better fits its production process.

“Our previous building was comprised of probably six or seven separate rooms,” Kodatsky said. “This is one long production line. We bring raw materials in one end and ship out the other end. It’s very well suited to what we do.”

Affival signed a 15-year lease, with an option for another five at the end, Kodatsky said.

In addition to long-term tenants, the park also has seen short-term ones. TNT Metals moved in after its facility in West Deer was destroyed in a fire in December 2020.

TNT President Rick Tibensky said his business needed to find a place to operate until it could rebuild in West Deer. He found the authority easy to work with.

“They made a space available for us when we had next to no options,” he said. “Geographically, it made sense.”

Three years into the authority’s ownership, the park, Herman said, represents an incredible opportunity. He said officials want to build upon its legacy as the birthplace of the aluminum industry.

“I don’t know if everyone realizes how special this piece of property is. It’s one of a kind,” he said. “We got a lot of work to do in the next two to five years. There’s a lot to do, and it takes time. I’m excited about it.

“The future for the park and for the city is bright.”