Work on a commercial space at the former Monsour Medical Center property in Jeannette is expected to begin next year, officials said.

The retail complex would be accompanied by more than 30 nearby town homes, a project city officials hope will spur additional development.

Developer Don Tarosky Jr., chief operating officer of The Colony Company, said he expects construction on along Route 30 to begin next year while residential building will start shortly after on strips of land along Pennsylvania Boulevard.

The development is being called Jayhawk Commons for the commercial space and Jayhawk Landing for the homes.

To city officials, the project brings not only the potential of added revenue, but more commerce, residents and revitalization.

“The whole city’s going to be affected by this development,” said manager Ethan Keedy.

It’s one Jeannette officials have been awaiting for years.

The site along Route 30 has sat vacant since 2017 after the Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. finished a $2 million demolition project funded by local and state dollars.

The nine-story cylindrical hospital had been a landmark at the city’s entrance since 1971 until it closed in 2006 after failing a series of state inspections. The county land bank bought the 6.4-acre property in 2014 at a judicial sale for about $15,000 and sold it to Tarosky’s company for $2.1 million. That sale was finalized in 2019.

Local zoning issues and the coronavirus pandemic led to delays in developing the property.

But now, with favorable decisions Wednesday from Jeannette’s zoning hearing board, Tarosky said he’s ready to get the project underway. The board granted variances that allow for the construction of the town homes on the residential sections and do not require a sidewalk to be built along Route 30 in front of where the commercial space will be, Keedy said.

A national coffee retailer and a service-related business are planned for Jayhawk Commons. Tarosky declined to name them.

Town home plan

Ron Campbell, owner and founder of Cambuilt, said two phases of town homes are being planned on either side of Pennsylvania Boulevard. The first phase of Jayhawk Landing will be 16 town homes and the second will be 16 to 21 town homes.

The homes will start in the mid-$200,000s, Campbell said. A third phase of town homes would be on the opposite side of Jayhawk Commons under a map provided by The Colony Company.

Becca King, lead sales agent for Jayhawk Landing, said the town homes will give would-be residents a new option in an up-and-coming area.

“I think it’s going to bring affordable, convenient homes to Jeannette,” she said.

The property is Jeannette’s only entrance from Route 30 and Mayor Curtis Antoniak said he is thrilled to get it revitalized, in addition to the revenue and new residents.

“We were totally landlocked,” he said. “There’s no place to build, we’re landlocked. This just opened that.”

The new homes will also serve as a way to counteract the ongoing demolition of blighted structures around town as part of an $10.4 million effort led by Westmoreland County in seven communities including Jeannette, he said.

Keedy hopes it will jump start additional development in Jeannette.

“All it takes is one person to take a chance and maybe others will see,” he said.

Redevelopment ongoing

Jeannette has been the site of major redevelopment in recent years with the help of Westmoreland County.

The former Fort Pitt Brewery in West Jeannette has been torn down and an environmental assessment is expected to help guide the potential for future use. The decrepit complex was acquired by the Westmoreland County Land Bank for $1,876 in a judicial sale three years ago.

The abandoned Jeannette Glass site has been transformed into Elliott Group’s 13-acre cryogenic pump test stand along Bullitt Avenue, about 1.5 miles from the company’s U.S. headquarters in the city. The Westmoreland County Industrial Development Corp. purchased the old factory property for $305,000 at a 2012 tax sale and undertook a multi-million dollar project to clean it up.

The property was sold to Elliott Group in 2019 and the new facility opened in 2021.

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