A local actor-producer plans to build the city's largest film production studio in an abandoned sheet metal factory in the Strip District.

John Yost has struck a deal with David Kowalski, owner of the 31st Street Business Park, to redevelop the former home of Pittsburgh Flat Roll, next to the 31st Street Bridge, as a 300,000-square-foot "production park" for creating feature films, television shows and commercials.

Mr. Yost said the $30 million renovation will be done in three phases, with the first phase to be complete by the beginning of 2009.

Mr. Yost's holding company, Mogul Mind LLC, owns a portfolio of media companies now located in Glassport, which will move into the new structure. The Strip District was not his first choice for a new location; a year ago, he was planning to build a new 700,000-square-foot studio in Robinson.

"Those plans were later changed because of very serious reasons," he said. "I don't mean serious as in dire, I mean serious as in good business practices."

The first reason for the change, he said, was the discovery that "producers and directors would rather be in the city limits" than in a suburban location. The second was learning about the property's availability, for which he credits Washington County developer Lucas Piatt. Mr. Piatt introduced him to Brian Kowalski, the owner's son, and by February Mr. Yost and the senior Kowalski were discussing a possible deal. The two are partnering to create the production studio.

The new facility will easily be the largest in the area, said Pittsburgh Film Office director Dawn Keezer. The next largest would be the 10,000-square-foot Island Studios soundstage in McKees Rocks, owned by Green Tree-based Smithfield Street Productions, which was used for the romantic comedy, "She's Out of My League."

In Cranberry, Cameron Romero's Batpack Studios, started two years ago, has a 4,000-square-foot soundstage. Batpack has completed two horror films that await distribution, "The Screening" and "Staunton Hill."

Such a facility could have been an alternative soundstage home for "Shelter," the Julianne Moore thriller that went to a Leetsdale industrial park for some filming, or "The Road," which bunked in the old Benkovitz warehouse in the Strip District for part of the time.

"We're thrilled; we're absolutely thrilled," Ms. Keezer said yesterday. "It's great for the industry. We need soundstage space, we need a space for all the work that's coming in."

Ms. Keezer said the 300,000-square-foot warehouse would be divided into space to accommodate production offices, soundstages and post-production work for multiple projects. It will need to be soundproofed, but it boasts ceilings up to 60 feet high, a bonus when building sets.

Converted warehouses must be made impervious to train or car traffic noises, church bells or anything that could disrupt filming. "What we've always needed is a big empty soundproof box with high ceilings and now we're going to get it," Ms. Keezer said.

"The Kill Point" television series, for instance, used a Lawrenceville warehouse for some indoor scenes but the ceilings there were low, just 25 feet high. "Shelter" shot some scenes in Leetsdale, which meant cast and crew had to spend time and money to get there from Downtown.

Their offices were scattered between Station Square, Downtown hotels and suburban office parks, depending on availability and price. "In an ideal world, the production office is right next to the soundstage, especially when a film is stage-intensive," Ms. Keezer said.

In the past year, 12 projects have come to town, generating an estimated $150 million, and Ms. Keezer expects movies to kick back into gear soon.

Driving producers to Pennsylvania is a $75 million tax incentive program that issues film and TV production companies transferable tax credit. "We should be getting really busy here pretty quickly; we're waiting on people to dot their i's and cross their t's," Ms. Keezer said.

The Greater Philadelphia Film Office just announced that Frank Darabont will direct "Law Abiding Citizen," a thriller starring Gerard Butler, in Philadelphia from October through year's end. Sharon Pinkenson, Ms. Keezer's counterpart in Philadelphia, said Mr. Darabont fell in love with Philadelphia but added, "It wouldn't have happened at all without the Pennsylvania film tax credit program as an incentive."

In Pittsburgh, membership in the International Association of Theatrical and Stage Employees, the film workers union, has doubled to 200 in the past six months, said spokesman George Jaber.

Mr. Yost hopes to add to that number.

Noting that an average film employs about 100, he said, "We will be hiring quite a few people. ... That's one of the things I'm most proud of, we're going to be putting people to work."