TRIBUNE-REVIEW
RIDC gets $1M to prep shuttered Nabisco site
BY: Allison M. Heinrichs
Saturday, February 10, 2007

The last time the shuttered Nabisco Bakery in East Liberty was cleaned, the challenge was removing abandoned gobs of cracker dough.

Transforming the bakery on Penn Avenue into almost 400,000 square feet of retail and office space will involve a much more serious scrubbing and quite a bit more dough.

The state awarded a $1 million grant to the Regional Industrial Development Corp. of Southwestern Pennsylvania on Friday to remove asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls, lead-based paint and other hazardous materials from the 6.5-acre site. RIDC will add $335,000 toward the clean-up.

Removing the hazardous materials would create a clean slate for Shadyside-based Walnut Capital Management Inc. to renovate the abandoned bakery and build a mixed-use development on the surrounding land. The development would be called Bakery Square, recognizing the area's history in the early 20th century as a center for the production of baked goods.


East Liberty development groups are cautiously optimistic about the development.

"It has the potential to be something good, as long as it complements what's in the core," said Sonya Tilghman, commercial project manager for East Liberty Development Inc., referring to central East Liberty. Bakery Square is on the eastern end of the neighborhood, bordering Larimer, Shadyside and Point Breeze North.

If done right, Bakery Square could complement other East Liberty developments, such as the recently opened Eastside retail space on the other side of the neighborhood, Home Depot, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, said Paul Brecht, executive director of the East Liberty Chamber of Commerce.

He said such stores are transforming East Liberty's long-tarnished image.

"It's been a hard struggle because we went through an era with a reputation for drug trafficking and gang wars," Brecht said. "We've been through a lot."

The Nabisco Bakery was built in 1918 as part of a nationwide expansion by the National Biscuit Co. The RIDC bought the plant in 1998 when Nabisco shut it down and leased it to Atlantic Baking Co., which was eventually taken over by the Bake-Line Group of Oak Brook, Ill. The group declared bankruptcy in early 2004, ending jobs for 290 bakery workers.

The state expects Bakery Square to create 1,600 jobs. Walnut Capital said it is working on lease agreements for the 223,000 square feet of office space, 165,000 square feet of retail space, 120-room hotel and fitness center they plan to build, but wouldn't reveal names of possible tenants.

The project is expected to cost up to $125 million. It would be paid for with a mix of private and public funding, including federal tax credits and money from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, said Todd Reidbord, president of Walnut Capital.

Clean-up should begin within a month, said Robert Stephenson, president of the RIDC. Walnut Capital hopes to begin building in September.

"The vision and plan for this property are tremendously exciting," said Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Kathleen McGinty as she presented the grant at a news conference yesterday. "To have not only business here, but housing and retail, is wonderful."

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