The Somerset County General Authority has signed a $6 million agreement to sell 95 acres of a mixed-use development site along Route 31 East in Somerset Township to a development firm.
The agency signed the agreement, selling the remaining 95 acres of the Laurel Highland Business Park (LHBP) with developer Merus, to construct a 1 million square-foot facility in the Pennsylvania Turnpike-adjacent park. The announcement was made by Somerset County Commissioners Aug. 25.
Merus was founded in 1894 and combines more than 130 years of commercial real estate expertise with company owners. It is a nationally recognized 100% employee-owned design-build development firm that specializes in the construction, development, ownership and management of real estate. It has nearly 200 employee-owners and offices in Cincinnati, Ohio; Nashville, Tennessee; Pittsburgh; and Raleigh, North Carolina.
Merus surfaced as a potential developer for the business park through marketing efforts led by Cushman & Wakefield of Pennsylvania, who signed a broker agreement with the General Authority to market the LHBP in the spring of 2025, according to a press release.
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"The General Authority's relationship with Cushman & Wakefield has been beneficial as they provided the Laurel Highlands Business Park with exposure to commercial developers of this scale," said Dan Halverson, authority chairman, in a press release.
The now called "Somerset-76 at the Laurel Highlands Business Park" is located at the intersection of routes 31 and 219, about 3.6 miles from the turnpike, Interstate 76, and is being marketed as a location with heavy water access and access to 60 million consumers within a five-hour drive with direct access to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, New York City, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland.
"Merus has the reach and capacity to broadly market the LHBP to national companies seeking a presence here in the Southern Alleghenies/Laurel Highlands region," said Brian Fochtman, chairman of the Somerset County Board of Commissioners, in a press release. "The county is optimistic this relationship will foster job creation and expand our local tax base."
This is the first time the county has a contract for the development of this magnitude, the commissioners said.
"This is very exciting news," said Commissioner Pamela Tokar-Ickes after the meeting. She said this is what LHBP was developed for.
Merus is known for manufacturing and warehousing, but the commissioners said they don't have any knowledge of what the company's plans are. Merus has a two-year option to conduct pre-construction due diligence on the site and to identify prospective tenants for the proposed 1,000,000 square foot facility. It is offering for lease through Cushman & Wakefield of Pennsylvania, according to a press release.
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The commissioners said Merus plans to have 23 acres under roof. They can section it off to other possible businesses or have it as a one business use.
"The potential for the influx of jobs in the county would be substantial," said Fochtman. "We've seen a lot of loss of jobs in the county. This will also support other businesses" such as trucking, forklifts, mechanics and food vendors.
East Coast Lighting is currently in LHBP. The park has just more than 100 acres. The county kept four acres for a Hazmat hangar and two more acres in the front of the park, Kimmel said.
The commissioners said they couldn't have completed the deal without Cushman & Wakefield who marketed the property, and county Chief Clerk Scott DeArmitt, who had the connection through his previous business dealings.
"It is a pretty good location of what is available. It's close to routes 81 and 79," Scott said. "They are a strong company."
This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Somerset General Authority signs agreement with developer for 95 acres