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Pittsburgh Business Times
State House passes battery and electronic disposal bill
The Pennsylvania House passed a bill to push for safer electronic disposal methods.<\p> If the bill goes on to become law, beginning in 2026, it would prohibit retailers from selling or distributing batteries "unless the producer of the covered battery or battery-containing product certifies to the retailer that the producer participates in a battery stewardship program." It would not make retailers "make retail locations available to serve as collection sites for stewardship programs," they simply would have to ensure that the batteries and electronics, which the bill refers to as battery-containing products, have the capability of being safely disposed of through a program approved by the Department of Environmental Protection. The bill was initially written to apply to all batteries, but amended to remove larger batteries such as electric vehicle batteries and solar power arrays.<\p>
ACTION-Housing introduces mixed-use plan for 200 Ross's next act
From historic corporate headquarters to hub for city departments, the John P. Robin Civic Building is poised for its next incarnation. <\p> ACTION-Housing introduced its basic game plan to convert the 13-story building at 200 Ross St. to a mix of three floors of offices and nine of affordable housing units at the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership's July 11 development activities meeting, held via Zoom.<\p>
Developer appears to be dropping Bloomfield Square plan
Bloomfield grocery shoppers can expect the Community Supermarket that has been operating on an interim basis in the neighborhood amid an ongoing redevelopment proposal to now become a more permanent anchor along Liberty Avenue.<\p> Cranberry-based Giant Eagle Inc., which owns and operates Community Supermarket, announced that it has an agreement with companion company Echo Realty to "transition ownership" - presumably, to buy - of the longtime grocery store property at 4401 Liberty Avenue across from the Bloomfield Bridge.<\p>
Buchanan beefs up litigation section in Pittsburgh with new hire
Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney has hired Sam Hornak as counsel in its Pittsburgh office. <\p> Hornak had been senior attorney at Clark Hill PLC, joining the firm's downtown Pittsburgh office in 2011 after earning his J.D. at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.<\p>
New owner for solar project that supplies electricity to Pitt
A solar energy array that is the largest in southwestern Pennsylvania and part of the University of Pittsburgh's sustainability strategy has been sold by its owners.<\p> Vesper Energy, which developed and built the Gaucho Solar project along the Allegheny and Beaver county lines, sold Gaucho and an Ohio solar project to Octopus Energy Generation. Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed.<\p>
Military awards $1M to local tech firm
East Liberty-based autonomous aircraft software developer KEF Robotics recently announced a $1 million grant from AFWERX, the Air Force's venture capital arm. It's the latest in a multi-million dollar series of military investments in the region toward autonomous systems.<\p> KEF's focus is currently on developing a navigational system that is not reliant on GPS. These ideas have recently received influential "lessons coming out of Ukraine," which contributed to the $1 million Tactical Funding Increase.<\p>
Community leaders' new downtown vision faces competing priorities
Julian Vallozzi recently made a move that might seem counterintuitive to anybody paying attention to downtown’s challenges these days.<\p> After closing three Earth Inspired Salads downtown in the wake of the pandemic, he opted to commit to a long-term renewal for his Vallozzi’s Pittsburgh restaurant just off Market Square.<\p>
PASSHE board wants to freeze tuition again
Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education’s (PASSHE) Board of Governors decided Thursday to discuss its plan to freeze in-state undergraduate tuition again for the 2024-2025 school year.<\p> They are currently negotiating the budget and will have a meeting soon to set the tuition rate once there is more information released on the amount of state funding. According to a release, PASSHE has kept in-state tuition at $7,716 a year for six years now and is hoping that this funding can make it a seventh.<\p>
The National Observer: Investors taking a big interest in strip malls
Welcome to The National Observer, a roundup of top business news and actionable insights from across The Business Journals network of publications. Today, we're looking at the closure of a century-old college, a sustained surge in new business formation, and where Kroger is looking to sell stores in order to win antitrust regulators’ approval for a $24.6 billion acquisition. But first, let's see how the accelerating spread of data centers is prompting resistance in some regions.<\p> Get more stories like these every day in your inbox by subscribing to The National Observer newsletter. <\p>
Giant Eagle negotiating to buy grocery store in the West End
Giant Eagle is working to add to its presence in the city's West End.<\p> The Cranberry-based grocery retailer is negotiating to buy a closed Shop'n Save store that's undergoing a renovation at 2103 Noblestown Rd., a location within the city near the neighboring communities of Green Tree and Crafton.<\p>
Pittsburgh's biggest credit union to add 2 new branches
Pittsburgh's largest credit union is expanding its retail presence at a rapid clip of 39% in a two-year span. <\p> Clearview Federal Credit Union opened two branches in 2023, added another two via merger on July 1, has one set to debut in October and plans two more next year.<\p>
Simon announces two newcomers to Ross Park Mall
After closing its location in the complex in 2021, Abercrombie & Fitch Co. is returning to Ross Park Mall along with a new store by Kendra Scott.<\p> That's according to an announcement by Simon Property Group, which owns Ross Park Mall.<\p>
Health system delays sale hearing of Sharon hospital
The fate of Sharon Regional Medical Center continues to be in limbo.<\p> The hospital's embattled owner, Steward Health System, disclosed in a bankruptcy court filing that it had delayed the hearing planned Thursday to auction off Sharon Regional, two hospitals in Ohio plus in Arkansas and Louisiana.<\p>
Duquesne's osteopathic college greets its inaugural class
With 91 men and women making up the inaugural class of the new College of Osteopathic Medicine assembled before him, Duquesne University President Ken Gormley gave thanks for each and the important roles they will eventually fill in rural and urban communities.<\p> "Each of you has a heart for service," Gormley said.<\p>
PCRG study says mortgage lending fell, gap in denial rates persists
Local mortgage applications fell but denial rates for all mortgage applicants in the five-county Pittsburgh region increased from 2021 to 2022, a newly released study said, and African American borrowers saw double the denial rates of white borrowers in 2022.<\p> African Americans’ mortgage applications were turned down at a rate of 35.99%, compared with 18.60% for white borrowers, according to the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group’s 28th annual lending study, released on July 10. It covers the years 2020 to 2022 in Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Washington and Westmoreland counties, a time disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic but with very low interest rates.<\p>
York County developer approved for apartment project in Monroeville
Burkentine Builders, a homebuilder based in the eastern half of Pennsylvania, has been approved to go forward with a new apartment community on a site next to a Giant Eagle and Target store in Monroeville. <\p> The project is called Old Stone Village and is expected to total 426 apartments in seven buildings, along with a host of amenities on a site that totals nearly 54 acres, a portion of which will need to be built out by filling in 43,702 cubic yards of earth to create a large enough site.<\p>
AHN Jefferson Hills unveils $4.6M renovation and upgrades
Allegheny Health Network on Wednesday marked the completion of the $4.6 million renovation and upgrade to the Breast and Imaging Center at AHN Jefferson Hills Hospital.<\p> The work boosted the space at the South Hills hospital by 2,000 square feet and allowed for a second ultrasound room, two more mammography rooms and a room for a bone density scan. The facility has state-of-the-art technology including the use of Hologic's 3D Quorum that uses AI to help better read images.<\p>
TV home of Pirates and Penguins launches new website
The TV home of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Pittsburgh Pirates has found itself a new home on the internet.<\p> On Wednesday, SportsNet Pittsburgh, the local cable sports network, announced it had launched a new website.<\p>
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