Butler Township recently broke ground for its new municipal building and police station on a five-acre lot in the CAN DO Corporate Center in Drums that Butler Township Manager Maryanne Petrilla said is “a prime location for our municipal services office.”
Butler Township officials have long admired the CAN DO Corporate Center for its location to major transportation routes, its shovel ready sites and the many infrastructure amenities. When township officials were outbid on another site in the Corporate Center, CAN DO representatives approached them about selecting Site 11 for their new facility. Petrilla said it was the perfect fit for their operations.
“The property was attractive because of its location to State Route 309 and Interstate 80. Plus, two major subdivisions are within two miles in either direction, making us closer to the most populated areas of the township,” Petrilla said. “The municipal services building located in the CAN DO Corporate Center may help attract business and expand the tenants in the park.
The site was shovel ready, which will be a tremendous savings in construction costs with all utilities already at the curb. The Corporate Center’s natural gas resources will also provide a savings for a building that will be operational around the clock.”
The $4 million building project includes a 13,500-square-foot facility that will house Butler Township’s police station, detention area, administration building and zoning office and an additional 4,300-square-foot police storage garage. Township officials expect to move into the new facility in February of 2018.
The CAN DO Corporate Center is located along State Route 309 and just minutes from Interstates 80 and 81. The park offers a number of infrastructure incentives including easy access to utilities as well as a telecommunications network. The state-of-the-art telecommunications system features 100-percent digital switching, a fiber-optic network and available, dedicated internet access.
Brian Kisenwether, chairman of the Butler Township board of supervisors, said, “As our population grows, so must our services. We outgrew our current municipal building about a decade ago but we did not want to make a move of this magnitude until we had sufficient revenue resources to do so without impacting our current tax rate. We are also hopeful with this progressive move to the CAN DO Corporate Center that we can attract more business and jobs to this beautiful area in the Butler valley.”
Petrilla said working with CAN DO to select the site and finalize the deal was a smooth process and township officials are looking forward to their new home.
“CAN DO has been a great partner to us over the years in improving our economic development and creating jobs. They have been extremely easy to work with and we look forward to a continued relationship,” she said.
CAN DO President and CEO Kevin O’Donnell said, “Butler Township remains a supportive partner in economic development and we are excited to have the township’s office complex in the Corporate Center. Township officials share our vision that the Corporate Center is a prime location for businesses to create jobs in the community and they have been eager to spur development in the park. Butler Township purchasing this site for their municipal services is further evidence of their commitment to the Corporate Center.”
In fact, to capitalize on the activity and encourage development, CAN DO is working with township officials to obtain land development approvals for Site 19, a 12.87-acre site that will accommodate a 50,000-square-foot building, and expects to receive those approvals by later this year.
