Home-grown developer leading ambitious Fort Cherry project
Courtesy of Imperial Land Corp.
Lifelong Hickory resident Brian Temple, president of Imperial Land Corp., has large expectations for Fort Cherry Development District.
Courtesy of Imperial Land Corp.
Ground is expected to be broken soon for the Fort Cherry Development District project, located on reclaimed strip mine property in Robinson Township, Washington County.
Courtesy of Imperial Land Corp.
Fort Cherry Development District, appropriately, is being built near Fort Cherry Road in Robinson Township.
Courtesy of Imperial Land Corp.
Here is the master plan for phase I of the Fort Cherry Development District project, to be developed on reclaimed strip mine land.
Courtesy of Imperial Land Corp.
A couple of presidents – Brian Temple, left, of Imperial Land Corp., and Jeff Kotula of the Washington County Chamber of Commerce – pose for a photo at a recent event.
Brian Temple, an ambitious developer, is about to launch an ambitious project near his home turf.
“We’re ready to break ground on phase I within the next month,” Temple said Monday, as he outlined plans for the Fort Cherry Development District. The endeavor encompasses construction of light industrial, flex, office and distribution spaces on reclaimed strip mine land in Robinson Township, Washington County, a short trek from Hickory, his lifelong home.
Temple, president of Imperial Land Corp. in Moon Township, said all permits are in place for phase I – a 130-acre tract where three lots and four building pads will be created. He does have a pre-construction meeting with the contractor, Mele Mele & Sons of Braddock, before work can commence.
There is a sales agreement on one of those lots, for a 195,000-square-foot building on 20 acres. Temple said the buyer, “per agreement,” will not close on the deal until July, making it “hard to project how long” it will be before that facility is operational.
The development district will be a multi-phase project that “could take a number of years” to completely build out, Temple acknowledged. The district, according to estimates, will have 6 million square feet of operational space and is projected to generate $542.4 million in private investment.
Imperial Land has 875 acres with which to work – 62 acres larger than Southpointe.
This reclaimed mining area is in a strategic location, adjacent to the Southern Beltway at the Midway-McDonald exit. It is in close proximity to Interstate 79, Pittsburgh International Airport and the Shell Chemicals cracker plant in Beaver County.
“Our property surrounds that interchange,” Temple said, adding that Fort Cherry Golf Club and Fort Cherry High School are within view. “Quicksilver (Golf Club) is on the far side of our property.”
One downside to the location is its hilly terrain. “Because this is a former strip mine site, there will be added costs,” Temple said. “There are no utilities, and with inflation now, it will cost a lot to get utilities and site work done.”
Another Imperial Land Corp. project has served as a model for the Fort Cherry development: Findlay Industrial Park, a few miles away and a short distance from Pittsburgh International. It is a 400-acre development off the Westport interchange of Route 576, known locally as the Findlay Connector. Ground for that project was broken in 2008.
Nine businesses are now operating there. Temple said 3.8 million square feet of space is under roof on that property, where 2,188 are employed.
Temple, a Hickory resident since birth, has been with Imperial Land since 2012. He has been president for a little more than a year, succeeding Jerry Bunda, who retired. Temple was the company’s development manager before that, and served in other regional roles before that.
From 2000 to 2012, he was the community development director in North Fayette Township, where Temple was instrumental in the development of the Pointe at North Fayette and in housing developments. Temple also has been on the planning commission and board of supervisors in Mount Pleasant Township, Washington County, his home municipality, and on multiple development boards in the state.
Development is his game, and Brian Temple is now playing it on his home field: the Fort Cherry Development District.