From the surging center of the Strip District to the crumbling flank of Downtown’s Firstside Historic District, it’s 2.1 miles by car. But those places seemed like different cities this week. In the Strip on Monday, Mayor Bill Peduto joined developer Jack Benoff in a sunny parking lot next to an active construction site for the groundbreaking of the Forte Condos project. Though nary a brick has been laid, half of the planned 50 market-rate homes are already sold, Peduto said. “Even during COVID, we’re staying busy.
Many Mon Valley business owners and community leaders believe the pandemic won’t squander the progress that’s been made in recent years. Still, with no end to the pandemic and a shortage of aid money, small business owners are hurting and the Mon Valley area is left with yet another daunting economic challenge.
Develop PGH Bulletins will update you on the Pittsburgh region's economy, including close coverage of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, City Planning Commission and other important agencies. Please bookmark, check back frequently, sign up for the Develop PGH newsletter and email rich@publicsource.org with questions, tips or story ideas. 9/29/20: Planners delay Uptown rehab project, citing Hill group’s concerns
A proposal to convert an abandoned industrial laundry facility in Uptown into technology space failed to win the Pittsburgh City Planning Commission’s approval, after the Hill Community Development Corporation [CDC] said that the developers did not detail plans to use minority- and women-owned businesses. The commission said that developer Westrise Capital can come back before it Oct. 13, and encouraged negotiation between that firm and the Hill CDC.
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ development team for the former Civic Arena site has “pulled themselves out” of a neighborhood review process and is chasing state dollars in a way that could “cannibalize” funds needed by other potential projects, Hill District leaders said at a virtual community meeting held late last week.
Update (9/4/20): Allegheny County President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark issued an order instructing district judges on the handling of eviction filings in the wake of an order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If a landlord attempts to file an eviction against a tenant who has declared that he or she falls under the income limits and income loss guidelines in the CDC order, the judge may hold an initial status conference to “give the parties an opportunity to also consider available rental assistance,” according to Clark’s order. Other than that, the judge is instructed to stay the case until the expiration of the CDC order, set for Dec. 31. In such cases, judges are not to issue writs or orders of possession — which tell the tenant to get out or be removed by a sheriff — until after the CDC order expires.
Develop PGH Bulletins will update you on the Pittsburgh region's economy, including close coverage of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, City Planning Commission and other important agencies. Please bookmark, check back frequently, sign up for the Develop PGH newsletter and email rich@publicsource.org with questions, tips or story ideas. 8/31/20: Allegheny County judge adds flexibility to some evictions
With a state moratorium on most new eviction filings set to expire after today, and Gov. Tom Wolf saying he won't extend it without legislation, an Allegheny County judge has issued an order meant to give courts more flexible timelines in such cases. When an eviction is based solely on the tenant's failure to pay rent, according to the order, district judges can add an additional seven days to the statutory time frames that normally require an initial hearing within seven to 10 days, according to President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark's order. If the tenant provides an affidavit or testimony that he or she has applied to a rent relief program like the ones offered by the county or by the city's Urban Redevelopment Authority, and if the tenant and the landlord agree to work together on the application, the hearing can be postponed for the duration of that process.
Allegheny County’s bill to heat seven of its biggest buildings is expected to rise under a contract with Peoples Natural Gas, as the county prepares to abandon a cooperative Downtown steam system, following a contracting process that some officials now question.
Develop PGH Bulletins will update you on the Pittsburgh region's economy, including close coverage of the Urban Redevelopment Authority, City Planning Commission and other important agencies. Please bookmark, check back frequently, sign up for the Develop PGH newsletter and email rich@publicsource.org with questions, tips or story ideas. 7/28/20: Separation of church and city? Pittsburgh’s City Planning Commission is expected to vote next month on whether a church in Allentown should be designated historic, possibly against the wishes of its owner, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. The St.
This month, UPMC filed its annual disclosures to the IRS, reporting gross receipts approaching $20 billion, as of June 30, 2019. UPMC's receipts — which reflect all money earned, without subtracting expenses — are roughly the size of the entire economy of Afghanistan, nearly 33 times the 2020 budget of the City of Pittsburgh, and 35% more than it reported just three years before.
The pandemic crisis has prompted tenants to organize in the Pittsburgh region, and activism in Wilkinsburg is emerging as a prime example. Tenants organized under the banner of the United Neighborhood Defense Movement [UNDM] have protested at C.P. Development’s office.
