Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer club is working with two North Huntingdon business partners to plan for a $30 million sports complex in township-owned assets near Highway 30, they announced Thursday.
Over the next six years, five masses and an indoor multi-use facility will be built on the 42-acre parcel.
The assignment cleared a first hurdle Wednesday when North Huntingdon commissioners approved a letter of intent with NHT Investment Partners LP that provides partners David Ponsonby and Joshua Zugai with exclusive rights to negotiate a long-term master floor lease with the municipality.
The business partners are a portion of North Huntingdon’s 77-acre public works assets on Public Works Drive for the sports complex.
The need for a sports complex in the municipality has long been discussed among neighbors, however, municipal officials have postponed the execution of the project, as well as its control and maintenance.
“We see the need for those fields,” said Ponsonby, who noted that his sons play youth sports. “It’s our hobby project. “
Commissioner Richard Gray, an opponent of the agreement, said the proposed agreement requires the city to get only $1 a year for the duration of a long-term agreement, which would span 116 years if all the features were exercised.
“We’re going to negotiate to make sure the city gets out of this,” Commissioner Jason Atwood said after the meeting.
Atwood said the $1 annual rent payment is a “starting point” for negotiations with developers.
Zugai, who works at an M&A firm, has defended paying the municipality just $1 a year for the use of the 42 hectares of public property. The initial term of the agreement would be 29 years, with 4 extension clauses of up to 116 years.
During the 120-day period in which he owns exclusive commercial rights, Zugai said extensive engineering paintings will be carried out at the site, adding box verification drilling, to determine the viability of the assets and where to locate the boxes.
“We’re the ones who have done a real feasibility study,” said Ponsonby, president of L.
NHT Investment Partners will sublease a portion of the 42-acre parcel to the Riverhounds, and the team will expand that portion for its fields, Ponsonby said.
Zugai said it was critical to the assignment to make a profit from leasing the land to the Riverhounds. He said it would take several years for developers to break even for the allocation because of all the costs. The allocation will be privately funded, Zugai said. .
Riverhounds spokesman Matt Grubba said the team hopes to use the box for the Hounds Academy season that begins in the fall of 2025. The box can also be used in groups that play lacrosse and rugthrough, Grubba said.
The new complex will expand Hounds and Hounds Academy’s footprint while adding amenities that will complement existing organizations and sports systems in the community, the club said.
“This new complex will provide the Riverhounds and our academy with world-class facilities to complement our existing homes in Connellsville, Coraopolis and Highmark Stadium,” said Jeff Garner, president of Riverhounds.
Riverhounds owner Tuffy Shallenberger said in a statement that the creation of the sports complex is another major investment to expand soccer in western Pennsylvania.
Ponsonby said he knew Shallenberger from the structure in which they both operate.
“It’s the best option,” Ponsonby said.
The developers intend to build a multi-use outdoor court to be available through the fall of 2025, Ponsonthrough said.
The complex will evolve in several stages over the next few years, Ponsonthrough said. They plan to complete all courts by 2028 and indoor amenities by 2030.
Ponsonby said the North Huntingdon crews’ land request will fill the facility.
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