Athletes competing in everything from football to pickleball could have a 45,000-square-foot indoor facility to use in Penn Township, if a developer’s plans come to fruition.
“I think the area needs something like this,” said Samuel DiDio of Penn Township, owner of PT Commercial Court LLC of Saltsburg Road, Penn Hills, the corporate name under which he is developing the facility.
The facility, designed with a 75-foot ceiling, is proposed for a site along Commercial Court, near the Penn Township public works garage.
DiDio said he hopes that the building — expected to cost between $5 million and $8 million — would be available to teams in a little over 12 months, during the winter of 2023. The site will have about 250 parking spaces in both Penn Township and Manor Borough, according to the plans.
With its location off Route 130 in Harrison City, and the planned slip ramp that would connect the Pennsylvania Turnpike to Route 130, DiDio said the site will be convenient to people from surrounding communities.
The Penn Township commissioners gave preliminary approval Tuesday to DiDio’s plans.
Before the commissioners would give final approval of the land development plan, township officials want the developer to obtain approval from Manor for all the structures located within that municipality.
It needs to obtain a permit for its pollution discharge elimination system and comply with the township’s stormwater management plan. It also will need a land disturbance permit for work at the site, which has woods and brush.
The property in Penn Township is zoned for industrial commerce use, while the section of the property in Manor Borough is zoned for light industrial use, according to township documents.
DiDio, whose PT Commercial bought the property from Leukhardt Family Partnership for $500,000 in May 2021, also is planning to construct a three-story 40,000 square-foot multitenant storage unit on the portion of the property in Manor.
DiDio also operates a multitenant storage unit in Plum and Surplus Assets Management Corp., a 26-year-old company that supplies replacement parts and equipment to the nuclear power industry.
