Former Monsour hospital site in Jeannette officially changes hands

Nearly two years after an agreement was reached between Westmoreland County and a developer, the former Monsour Medical Center has officially changed hands.

The vacant 6.4-acre Jeannette property now is owned by Colony Holding, the Westmoreland County Land Bank announced Wednesday. “Jayhawk Commons,” a mixture of commercial, retail and office space, is proposed for the Route 30 site, said developer Don Tarosky Jr. He has not publicly identified potential tenants.

The $2.1 million sale agreement was approved in September 2017.

In the two years since, a judge granted permission to close a 50-foot section of vacant land that at one time was used as a road. County development officials said the alley, which hasn’t been used for decades, had to be removed from the books before the purchase could be finalized.

The land bank worked with two lien holders on the property — Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. and the Internal Revenue Service — to release $8 million in liens, said Chairman David Johnston.

The Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. in 2017 finished a $2 million demolition project there funded by local and state dollars. Demolition started in February 2016, drawing dozens of onlookers as the iconic nine-story cylindrical tower came to the ground. It had been a landmark at the city’s entrance since 1971.

The land bank bought the former Monsour property in 2014 at a judicial sale for about $15,000 after the hospital and adjoining buildings were left vacant. The medical center closed in 2006 after a series of failed state inspections.