Historic Carlisle manufacturing site to undergo $10M redevelopment

• REC acquired Carlisle‘s 27-acre Frog Switch site for redevelopment.

• $10.2 million in state funds will support demolition and remediation.

• Project aims to revitalize a distressed area with economic potential.

Real Estate Collaborative, LLC, has acquired Carlisle’s historic Frog Switch & Manufacturing site with $10.2M in state funds to transform the industrial property into an engine of local redevelopment. 

Ownership of the 27-acre former Frog, Switch, & Manufacturing (Frog Switch) industrial complex was transferred recently to Real Estate Collaborative (REC). The transaction comes just weeks after REC received a $10.2 million award to transform the site, the second largest award in the commonwealth. 

According to a release, the Borough of Carlisle, the Cumberland County Commissioners, the current site owners, and several state legislators including Sen. Greg Rothman, Rep. Barbara Gleim, Rep. Torren Ecker, Rep. Nate Davidson, Sen. Patty Kim, and Rep. Thomas Kutz. Each expressed support for REC’s project and application to the PA Strategic Investments to Enhance Sites Program, through which REC was awarded $10.2 million of grant and loan funding. 

Generations of Carlisle families have been employed by Frog Switch. The facility has been used for manufacturing for approximately 185 years. Per a release, its namesake comes from the railroad “frogs” and “switches” that were once produced extensively at the site. The site most recently produced manganese steel castings for crushers. The Frog Switch Board of Directors determined in June 2023 that it was not economically feasible to continue operations due to international competition and the prohibitive costs of necessary capital improvements. 

The closing between the Frog, Switch Manufacturing Company and REC occurred nearly nine months after REC entered into a purchase agreement for the site. Since then, REC has coordinated with company owner Bessie Jamieson, existing Frog Switch staff, the PA Department of Environmental Protection, the Environmental Protection Agency, and regional stakeholders to identify existing safety and environmental concerns and plan for the site’s reuse, per the release. 

REC will demolish the existing structures, perform remediation and make the site pad-ready to sell to a future developer — a plan for which Ms. Jamieson, the Borough of Carlisle, state and federal legislators, the Cumberland County Board of Commissioners, and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development have expressed written support. 

Ms. Jamieson stated that the Frog Switch Board passed on a financially lucrative offer for the property in a desire to create something special for the Carlisle community as her family’s legacy. 

“I am so happy that we were able to reach this point with REC and CAEDC,” Jamieson said in a statement. “I am convinced that they will ensure that my family’s industrial site will be transformed into an area befitting a gateway into Carlisle but will also memorialize and recognize the 125 years of contribution to industry and employment.” 

REC Chair Andrew Notarfrancesco called it the start of a new era at Frog Switch. 

“We want the Carlisle community to know that we have been working on this with Bessie and her team for two years now and that we are doing everything we can to make sure this property does not become a blight and liability, but rather a place of economic opportunity and community benefit,” Notarfrancesco said. “We thank Bessie and everyone at Frog Switch for their remarkable commitment to Carlisle, their good stewardship of the environment during their almost 200 years of operation, and the trust they are placing in REC to make the redevelopment of this site something they can be proud of. 

“We intend to move swiftly and deliberately to fulfill the promises we made to transform this site and not lose the momentum that we have spent more than two years generating,” added Notarfrancesco. 

Notarfrancesco said the redevelopment project will benefit an area that is in need of new economic opportunities and environmental justice. 

“For instance, 18% of households in the surrounding neighborhoods are living in poverty — the county average is only 7.9%; and the median household income in the community is only $50,958 as compared to the County’s median of $82,174,” said Notarfrancesco. “This area is distressed and vulnerable to further challenges if Frog Switch is not redeveloped, which is why REC is taking immediate action by following the plan it has presented to the public.” 

Along with the PA Sites award, REC has assembled multiple funding sources to support redevelopment of the site. The next step for the site will be to implement a professionally developed safety and security plan. Having learned from past Carlisle redevelopments, REC remains committed to protecting the public from physical dangers, including 15-foot-deep concrete pits, environmental contaminants, and unstable buildings. 

Comprised of volunteers, including construction and brownfield experts, legal and economic development professionals, REC will work with the USEPA Brownfields Office to conduct additional environmental site assessments and hazardous materials surveys and structural analyses of the buildings. The evaluations will determine the next actions to be taken at the site. In addition, REC has secured over $11 million to accomplish the tasks necessary to redevelop the Frog Switch site. 

Upon completion of demolition, remediation and other site preparation activities, REC will solicit a request for proposals, asking private entities to submit preliminary plans for the redevelopment of the site. REC will then sell the property, enabling diverse economic opportunities in the Cumberland County borough.