Large U.S. Steel Site In Falls Twp. Sold For $160 Million

More than 1,800 acres in Falls Township – known as the Keystone Industrial Port Complex – has been sold by U.S. Steel to NorthPoint Development.

In a statement, U.S Steel said the sale of the massive property along the Delaware River that previously housed the Fairless Works plant that was an economic engine for the region was completed last Wednesday. The property was sold to Missouri-based NorthPoint Development using local entity NP Falls Township Industrial LLC for $160 million.

NorthPoint Development will change the name of the property to the Keystone Trade Center and plans to develop what they expect to be the “largest e-commerce, logistics, and multi-model industrial project on the East Coast.” The project could bring more than $1.5 billion in investment and 5,000 to 10,000 new jobs over the next decade.

“This non-core asset sale delivers on our strategic commitment to extract incremental value from our attractive portfolio of real estate assets,” U.S. Steel President and CEO David B. Burritt said in a statement. “The proceeds from this transaction further enhance our strong cash position.”

U.S. Steel will continue to have a small presence at the site. The company website states the cold-rolled steel products made at western Pennsylvania plants are finished into galvanized sheets for use in the automotive, home construction, appliance, and metal building industries remains in Falls Township.

The Fairless Works complex first began in 1952. The site, which was built on largely empty land along the river and farm property, included the large steel mill, a coke (fuel used in the steel making process) production plant, steel making and forging operations, a powerhouse, and chemical plant. By the 1970s, more than 5,000 people worked at the site. As the years wore on, U.S. Steel slashed thousands of positions and in 2001 closed the majority of the site. The company still finishes cold-rolled steel products made at western Pennsylvania plants for use in the automotive, home construction, appliance, and metal building industries at the facility. By 2009, about 100 U.S. Steel employees worked at the facility as the company continued demolishing buildings that were unused.

The early success of the U.S. Steel site helped grow the area and drew families to Bucks County. The U.S. Steel Fairless Works location was named after company executive Benjamin Franklin Fairless. He was the namesake for the Fairless Hills sections of Falls and Bristol townships.

NorthPoint Development has said during recent public meetings that they plan to construct new warehouses ranging in size from 200,000 square feet to up to 2 million square feet on open space at the property. Some buildings could be as high as 100 feet, and tenants would be found on a speculative basis.

NorthPoint Development will keep leases with a number of industrial and manufacturing companies and the deep water international port and terminal that is operated by Kinder Morgan at the site.

The property is close to a number of highways, has the international port onsite, and is near a number of airports and ports. All of which were attractive to NorthPoint Development, a company official said.

About 34 million people live within a three-hour truck drive and 40 percent of the nation’s population lives within a day-long drive of the site, according to Jed Momot, the chief strategy officer for firm.

All three taxing bodies for the property – the Bucks County Commissioners, Falls Township, and the Pennsbury School District – agreed this month to allow the site to become a Keystone Opportunity Investment Zone from January 1 and ending on December 31, 2035. The designation will give the developer tax breaks to encourage growth.

Area officials have voiced pleasure with NorthPoint Development’s proposal and commitment to the site.

NorthPoint Development officials have said they want to break ground by spring on the first phases of the project.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency placed a Resource Conservation and Recovery Act consent order on the site in 1993. U.S. Steel was required to remediate the property under the order. So far, 70 percent of the site has been cleaned up by the steel giant, and NorthPoint Development plans to invest $25 million over the next few years to complete the 30 percent of the site so the consent order can be lifted, Momot has said.

The sale of the property is one of the largest land deals for redevelopment in the region and on the East Coast this year.

Previous reporting on the project:

• County Commissioners Approve Tax Break For Massive Keystone Trade Center Plan
• Tax Breaks Could Help Development At Proposed Keystone Trade Center
• Keystone Trade Center Project Moves Forward
• Ground On Billion-Dollar Keystone Trade Center Could Be Broken By Spring
• Falls Twp. Holding Special Meeting On Proposed U.S. Steel Site Redevelopment
• Plans For U.S. Steel Site Show New Billion-Dollar Development, Potential For Thousands Of Jobs
• EXCLUSIVE: Large U.S. Steel Site To Be Sold To Developer
• U.S. Steel Seeking To Sell Fairless Works Site

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