Apr 5, 2013 2 min read

Washington County has approved the sale of a strip of land it owns in Canonsburg to a company that wants to expand in an area that was once blight at the entrance to the borough.

At the recommendation of Washington County Redevelopment Authority Executive Director William McGowen, the county commissioners Thursday approved the sale of about a quarter-acre of property in the 100 block of Adams Avenue to custom furniture maker Zoom Corp. so that it can expand and hire a few new employees.

Zoom co-owner Sharon Evans said the company is going to give Canonsburg a contemporary building that will stand out in the borough.

Evans said the existing building will remain. It was built in the early 1900, she said, for a trolley line.

“The trolley cars came in her, turned around and went on their routes,” she said.

The company intends to construct a truck dock and a new building and also make over the entire facade of its factory this year at a cost of $225,0000, McGowen said.

Zoom manufactures high-end custom furniture and cabinets, Evans said.

He said the county had razed two blighted buildings there and remediated the soil at a cost of $200,000. The county was preparing to market the site when Zoom stepped forward asking to purchase the property, he added.

McGowen cited a selling price of $27,000 for the property following the commissioners’ agenda meeting Thursday.