Oxford Development Co. has been hired to serve as owner’s rep for the Almono redevelopment in Hazelwood as officials work to assemble a team to build out the 178-acre former brownfield site along the Monongahela riverfront.
In her first public presentation since she was hired last year to lead the Almono redevelopment by its foundation owners, Rebecca Flora and Almono LP detailed the development at a meeting of the Urban Land Institute. After a group of local foundations first bought the former steel mill site in 2002, the Almono site has undergone $50 million to remediate the brownfield and to establish its first road and water and sewer infrastructure, led by the Regional Industrial Development Corporation of Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Now, with RIDC reassigned to redevelop the major remaining industrial structure on the site into the Mill 19 redevelopment, Flora is hashing out a schedule and a process to begin vertical development on another 80 acres of the site, with an approach that includes ample open space.
She said Oxford has been brought in to help with construction management and property management services while she oversees the process of seeking developers and companies to pursue new private investment at Almono.
“We knew that we needed some pretty deep bench strength for a project of this size,” said Flora, principal of ReMake Group, emphasizing that Oxford’s professional services involvement won’t preclude the development arm of the firm pursuing projects there.
Flora noted the broad range of tasks Almono LP is pursuing — building out the remaining roads, establishing a district energy approach, resolving access and multimodal challenges, marketing — in conjunction with marketing the project for private development.
As she works to hire a marketing firm for the site, Flora said Almono LP has hired the lobbying and consulting firm Delta Development Group to assist with the site’s multimodal access needs and BuroHappold Engineering to work on a district energy strategy expected to employ a mix of renewable energy sources.
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