Next Phase of 9 Mile Run Project

An $11 million state loan has been approved to continue the restoration of the former Nine Mile Run slag dump site located near Frick Park. The loan is part of a $45.6 million project that will include residential and commercial development, 20 acres of open space, 5.4 acres of public parks and the installation of 9,600 feet of storm water lines. The site produces runoff with high pH and heavy metals contaminating storm water that runs into Nine Mile Run and the groundwater.
will be used to set the foundation for a residential expansion of Summerset at Frick Park, one of the nation’s first residential neighborhoods to be built upon a former waste site.

State Representative Dan Frankel of Pittsburgh says the 20-year loan, provided through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Investment Authority, will help to set the foundation for the residential expansion.

“There’s a great deal of reclamation that needs to take place. There’s a great deal of infrastructure that needs to be put in place on the undeveloped site in order to continue with this successful development.”

This is the third and final phase of the development. Frankel says Summerset at Frick Park was built upon the idea that residents can experience the feel of an urban neighborhood without being located in the heart of the city.

“It’s not like the suburban developments that you see outside of the city of Pittsburgh where you have acre lots. This is really a true urban neighborhood extension of Squirrel Hill but at the same time it does have some of the feel that you’re sort of separated from the city, you’re overlooking the park. You know, it’s the best of all worlds.”

Frankel says the project is much more than just residential.

“Part of this has been cleaning up Nine Mile Run and extending Frick Park all the way over to the Monongahela River,” Frankel says. “If you take a look at trails that have been reclaimed, it’s a great project from so many different views.”

The project is to create an estimated 550 construction jobs and is to begin in July and be completed in July 2016.