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UPMC decision to scrap new hospital a setback for the South Hills area

2 min read
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It might not have been on the level of the ongoing bidding war for Amazon’s HQ2 or the new cracker plant to be built in Beaver County, but UPMC planning to open a $211 million hospital in South Fayette was still a big economic deal for the South Hills.

Even if not everyone would agree.

Over the past six months, South Fayette officials have listened to a myriad of public comments on what it would mean for UPMC to build a new hospital in the township’s upscale Newbury Market development.

Some complained that opening a 280,000-square-foot, 90-bed hospital would be a drag on already-high property taxes since the vast majority of the facility would go untaxed as a nonprofit.

Traffic at the congested Bridgeville interchange to Interstate 79 also was a concern.

Others, however, pointed to the economic opportunities it offered, most notably the 570 jobs it would create and the money that would then be spent in South Fayette and the neighboring communities.

Alas, it was not meant to be.

UPMC told the Newbury developer last week it was pulling the plug on its plans to build the hospital.

While it doesn’t spell the end for the Newbury development, it certainly is setback. The hospital was supposed to be an anchor tenant in the vacant complex along Route 50. Other businesses and development were supposed to sprout nearby to support the hospital and its staff.

Instead, more than a decade after it was first envisioned as a community hub in the South Hills, both the developers and township officials are back to the drawing board trying to figure out how to fill the Newbury Market with businesses.

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