St. Barnabas buys former Michael Baker headquarters for $10.3 million

April 27--BRIGHTON TWP. -- One of Pennsylvania's largest health-care systems has purchased the former headquarters of Michael Baker International in Brighton Township.

St. Barnabas Health Systems, based in Gibsonia, Allegheny County, purchased the two-story building and the 175 acres it sits on along Dutch Ridge Road. The terms of the sale were not disclosed by the company, but a deed filed with Beaver County lists the sale price as $10.29 million.

In a news release, company officials said they are planning for "new retirement living apartments, carriage homes, living-assistance facilities, skilled nursing care, rehabilitation services, home care and many recreation programs" at the site.

A St. Barnabas spokesman said Beaver County residents likely won't see major changes to the Michael Baker building anytime soon. That's because Shell Chemicals Corp. is currently leasing the space, and St. Barnabas will let that lease expire before renovating or upgrading the space to fit its needs.

"Shell will remain the tenant there," spokesman Jim Lauteri said. "We're not doing anything right now related to any kind of improvements. What we'll do is start to develop plans for the whole site and for what we want to do there, when we want to do it."

Lauteri said he didn't know the length of Shell's lease.

Shell spokesman Joe Minnitte on Friday couldn't say exactly when the lease expires but noted that the company is using the building only "short term, while constructing our facility (in Potter Township)."

"Once constructed, we will locate our office staff to the administration building, which will be located on site," he added. "We expect to fully transition to the site administration building early next decade."

Lauteri said people can look to St. Barnabas' history to get a glimpse of what could be coming to Brighton Township. More than 50 years ago, he said, St. Barnabas occupied an "average-sized building" surrounded by farmland in Gibsonia. Over time, the company continually added on to that development and constructed a complex that now includes a retirement apartment building for 300 residents, a medical center and an assisted-living facility.

That's not to mention 185 carriage homes and other facilities that have been added over the decades.

"We looked at the opportunities that presented themselves near our campus, and we expanded," he said. "We'll look at the Michael Baker property with long-term planning in mind."

This isn't St. Barnabas' first development in Beaver County. It already operates the 75-bed St. Barnabas Beaver Meadows assisted-living facility on Tuscarawas Road in Brighton Township.

Lauteri added that it's not hard to see why St. Barnabas wanted to increase its presence in Beaver County.

"When you see all the positive things that are happening in the county, it's a county that is going to grow obviously with the Shell investment," he said. "We just think it has great potential, and it's just a good community to be part of."

He added that the Michael Baker building's proximity to Interstate 376 was an added bonus, as it provides easy access for friends and family who might want to visit.

St. Barnabas, which was founded in 1900, operates three retirement communities, five assisted-living facilities, two skilled nursing homes, home care, hospice, and a community outpatient medical and dental center.

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