Pittsburgh Region Rail & Barge Transload Terminals

Cushman & Wakefield has been exclusively selected by Nicholas Enterprises, Inc. to represent it in the disposition of their premier multi-modal terminal portfolio located in the Pittsburgh, PA metro-market.

The two terminals located individually in both Ambridge, PA and Freeport, PA, represent a highly coveted and unique opportunity to purchase two (2) multimodal terminals. Both terminals are located on the Norfolk Southern rail network and have robust barge docks with significant throughput capacity that can be leveraged to sustain existing business and drive future growth going forward. In addition to the strong multimodal throughput capacity, the legacy facilities can be leveraged ‘as-is’ to sustain existing business and repositioned in the future for redevelopment. Each site has significant laydown yard space that can be utilized for day-to-day transloading and material storage or leased as a source of additional revenue. Both sites combined represent the ability to enter into a core United States market and thrive from the onset. 

The Ambridge, PA asset is located on the Ohio River and sits approximately 16 miles northwest of downtown Pittsburgh and approximately 12 miles southeast of the Royal Dutch Shell plant located in Monaca, PA. The site is made up of north and south sections, comprised of 45+/- acres of land, with approximately 416,000 SF of legacy warehouse space. With approximately 15,000 feet of track on site, all of the buildings have heavy duty steel construction with significant direct rail access and cranes for lifting and positioning heavy freight such as steel plates and coils. The site is also home to a dedicated barge facility that allows the site significant throughput capacity supported by two cranes that can transload directly from barge to rail or truck. The barge facilities, when paired with the rail capacity, warehouse space and laydown yard presents a significant opportunity to power a high-volume, multi-commodity transload facility that could be unrivaled in the greater Pittsburgh market.

The Freeport, PA site has one of the most unique sets of modal and storage capabilities currently on the market in the United States. The site is approximately 39 acres combined in both owned and leased property from Norfolk Southern with 52,891 SF of warehouse and office buildings and 10+ acres of dedicated yard space currently being leased for bulk storage and non-ferrous metal reclamations. The site boasts 3,500 +/- linear feet of river frontage on the Allegheny River that provides access to a private bulk liquids terminal that supports feedstocks for hydrocarbon productions. The storage tank facility is capable of 8,300,000+/- gallon capacity but is currently operating in the range of 5,800,000+/- gallon capacity. The truly unique feature of the barge and storage tank facility is a dedicated steam generating plant that is capable of heating the contents of a barge and/or tanks, even during winter months, to a liquid consistency so that it can be transloaded as needed. The steam generating facility gives the site a unique competitive advantage especially in consideration of the multi-modal access the site has to barge, truck, and rail on the Norfolk Southern network. In addition to the barge capacity and large yard area for storage, movement and transload of multiple commodities the site has a dedicated rail yard leased from the Norfolk Southern. The railyard, which has access to the barge site via truck, is currently set up to receive 8-10 cars at a time. The site has been capitalized with a pit where hopper cars of aggregate, portland cement, sand, etc., can be uploaded from hopper cars and loaded to truck via a conveyer.

The combined assets of the Nicholals Enterprises, Inc. portfolio represent a formidable opportunity to become a dominant player in the greater Pittsburgh, PA market. The combined portfolio will enable the new owner to establish themselves as a leading provider of transload services, with the potential for new multimodal warehouse development serviced by rail, barge and truck. With the physical infrastructure in place, combined with the zoning and permitted uses, this portfolio will allow for healthy growth and new business opportunities for the foreseeable future.