The Pittsburgh Riverhounds soccer club is working with two North Huntingdon business partners in planning a $30 million sports complex on township-owned property off Route 30, they announced Thursday.
Five outdoor fields and a multi-purpose indoor facility will be built over the next six years at the 42-acre parcel.
The project cleared an initial hurdle Wednesday when the North Huntingdon commissioners approved a letter of intent with the NHT Investment Partners LP that gives business partners David Ponsonby and Joshua Zugai the exclusive rights to negotiate a long-term master ground lease with the township.
The business partners are targeting a portion of North Huntingdon’s 77-acre public works property on Public Works Drive for the multi-sport complex.
The need for a sports complex in the township has long been discussed by residents, but township officials have deferred bearing the cost of the project, as well as managing and maintaining it.
“We see the need for these fields,” said Ponsonby, who noted his children play youth sports. “This is our passion project.”
Commissioner Richard Gray, the lone opponent of the agreement, said the proposed deal calls for the township to receive just $1 a year for the length of a long-term deal, which would stretch for 116 years if all the options are exercised.
“We will negotiate to make sure the township will get the benefit of having this,” Commissioner Jason Atwood said following the meeting.
Atwood said the $1 annual rental fee is just “a starting off point” for negotiations with the developers.
Zugai, who works in a privately-held mergers-and-acquisition firm, defended paying the township only $1 annually for use of the 42 acres of public property. The initial term of the deal would be for 29 years, with four options for extensions that could reach 116 years.
During the 120-day period when it holds exclusive negotiating rights, Zugai said there will be extensive engineering on the site, including test drilling of the ground, to determine the viability of the property and where to locate the fields.
“We’re the only ones who did a real feasibility study,” said Ponsonby, president of L&P Contracting LLC, a commercial contractor in North Huntingdon.
NHT Investment Partners will sublease part of the 42-acre parcel to the Riverhounds, and the team will develop that part of the site for its fields, Ponsonby said.
Zugai said it is critical to the project to have the revenue from the lease of the land to the Riverhounds. He said it will take several years for the developers to break even on the project because of all the costs. The project will be privately-funded, Zugai said.
Matt Grubba, a spokesman for the Riverhounds, said the team hopes to be able to use the field for its Hounds Academy season that begins in fall 2025. The field could also by used by teams playing lacrosse and rugby, Grubba said.
The new complex will expand the footprint for the Hounds and Hounds Academy while adding facilities that will support existing organizations and sports programming in the community, the club said.
“This new complex will give the Riverhounds and our academy another top-class facility to complement our existing homes in Connellsville, Coraopolis and at Highmark Stadium,” said Jeff Garner, Riverhounds president.
Riverhounds owner Tuffy Shallenberger said in a statement the creation of the sports complex is another major investment to grow soccer in Western Pennsylvania.
Ponsonby said he knows Shallenberger through the construction business in which both operate.
“It was such a perfect fit,” Ponsonby said.
The developers have a goal of building one multi-purpose outdoor field so it is available by fall 2025, Ponsonby said.
The complex will be developed in multiple phases over the next several years, Ponsonby said. They anticipate completing all the exterior fields by 2028 and the indoor facilities by 2030.
Ponsonby said he is confident the demand for fields by North Huntingdon teams will fill the facility.
Joe Napsha is a TribLive reporter covering Irwin, North Huntingdon and the Norwin School District. He also writes about business issues. He grew up on Neville Island and has worked at the Trib since the early 1980s. He can be reached at jnapsha@triblive.com.