After taking on the Lower Hill development rights from the Pittsburgh Penguins in October, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh seeks to bring new housing to the Hill District.

The authority announced on March 12 its plans to divert tax-equivalent payments generated from new development toward new housing and possible commercial spaces, alongside other steps to redevelop the easternmost portions of the Lower Hill, a 28-acre site where “urban renewal” resulted in the displacement of thousands of residents from the historically Black neighborhood to make way for the Civic Arena. 

“It’s our responsibility to move forward with care and purpose, and advance projects that serve the community and begin to repair that history,” said URA Executive Director Susheela Nemani-Stanger. 

One of those steps will be to make the URA and the Sports and Exhibition Authority the recipients of payments in lieu of taxes gained from new development in the Lower Hill. Previously, those funds – made possible by the Lower Hill Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) tax abatement program established in 2015 – were retained by the Penguins to redevelop the area.

Over nearly two decades, the Penguins developed and completed the First National Bank Financial Center. A new concert venue, called The Wylie, is also under construction. But by the time the hockey club gave up its exclusive rights to redevelop the Lower Hill, not much else had changed: Roughly 21 acres remain developable, according to the URA. 

The URA also plans to release a request for proposals next month for the redevelopment of roughly seven acres between Bedford and Centre Avenues, in a bid to transform the surface parking lots into a mix of affordable and market-rate housing with commercial spaces.

Pending board approval, the URA will also move to formalize site control of 1.75 acres at the intersection of Centre Avenue and Crawford Street, pushing forward the redevelopment of the city’s oldest public housing development, Bedford Dwellings. 

Nearly $1 million going to 4 Hill developments

The Lower Hill LERTA ensures that half of all tax revenue generated on the site gets redirected to the Greater Hill District Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund, which funds redevelopment projects in Terrace Village, Middle Hill, Upper Hill, Bedford Dwellings, Crawford-Roberts and the Bluff. 

The URA Board approved reinvestment funds for the following redevelopment projects:

• $250,000 to the construction of African Queens Apartments, a 12-unit affordable housing building with ground-level retail spaces located on Centre. The project costs $8.6 million in total. 
• $240,000 toward the rehabilitation of 2178 Centre, a vacant three-story building on the same block as the forthcoming African Queens Apartments. The first floor will house Big Tom’s Barbershop, which is currently located at 2042 Centre.
• $250,000 toward the transformation of the former Centre Lumber and Building Supply warehouse at 2239 Centre into a mixed-use building with retail spaces and 12 subsidized artist studios.  The project, led by Studio Volcy, LLC, is anticipated to cost $3.6 million. 
• $190,000 to Communion, LLC, to rehabilitate 2932 Wylie Ave. into a mixed-use building with commercial office space and six affordable residential units. 

The funding serves to either completely fill or come close to filling the financing gap for each project, according to Kirk Holbrook, the project manager for the reinvestment fund. 

Homes planned in Hazelwood

The board also approved the sale of several parcels of land in the Hazelwood neighborhood to Oak Moss Consulting, LLC, for a dollar. The firm plans to build 23 townhouses of two or three bedrooms. 

Mia Hollie is the economic development and housing reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. She can be reached at mia@publicsource.org.

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Pittsburgh agency outlines post-Penguins plans for Lower Hill development

by Mia Hollie, Pittsburgh's Public Source
March 12, 2026

<h1>Pittsburgh agency outlines post-Penguins plans for Lower Hill development</h1> <p class="byline">by Mia Hollie, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />March 12, 2026</p> <p>After taking on the Lower Hill development rights from the Pittsburgh Penguins in October, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh seeks to bring new housing to the Hill District.</p> <p>The authority announced on March 12 its plans to divert tax-equivalent payments generated from new development toward new housing and possible commercial spaces, alongside other steps to redevelop the easternmost portions of the Lower Hill, a 28-acre site where “urban renewal” resulted in the displacement of thousands of residents from the historically Black neighborhood to make way for the Civic Arena. </p> <p>“It’s our responsibility to move forward with care and purpose, and advance projects that serve the community and begin to repair that history,” said URA Executive Director Susheela Nemani-Stanger.&nbsp;</p> <p>One of those steps will be to make the URA and the Sports and Exhibition Authority the recipients of payments in lieu of taxes gained from new development in the Lower Hill. Previously, those funds – made possible by the Lower Hill Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance (LERTA) tax abatement program established in 2015 – were retained by the Penguins to redevelop the area.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Lower-Hill-RFP-Site-Board-Visual-031126-1-scaled.jpg" alt="Map showing the Lower Hill District Housing RFP site with two highlighted parcels totaling 6.82 acres, including 3.70 acres and 3.12 acres, and a legend for reference." class="wp-image-1330655" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Map of the roughly seven-acre site in the Lower Hill District for which the Urban Redevelopment Authority is issuing a request for proposals for development. (Courtesy of the URA).</figcaption></figure> <p>Over nearly two decades, the Penguins developed and completed the First National Bank Financial Center. A new concert venue, called The Wylie, is also under construction. But by the time <a href="https://www.wesa.fm/development-transportation/2025-10-23/penguins-give-up-exclusive-lower-hill-development-rights">the hockey club gave up its exclusive rights</a> to redevelop the Lower Hill, not much else had changed: Roughly 21 acres remain developable, according to the URA.&nbsp;</p> <p>The URA also plans to release a request for proposals next month for the redevelopment of roughly seven acres between Bedford and Centre Avenues, in a bid to transform the surface parking lots into a mix of affordable and market-rate housing with commercial spaces.</p> <p>Pending board approval, the URA will also move to formalize site control of 1.75 acres at the intersection of Centre Avenue and Crawford Street, pushing forward the redevelopment of the city’s oldest public housing development, Bedford Dwellings.&nbsp;</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260311-URA-DEVELOPMENT-HILL-DISTRICT-PITTSBURGH-01-1.jpg" alt="A worn, two-story brick building with boarded windows stands at a street corner on a cloudy day, with parked cars and trees in the background." class="wp-image-1330660" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Herron and Wylie Project, by developer Communion, LLC, will rehabilitate 2932 Wylie Ave. into a mixed-use development with three offices on the first-floor and six units of affordable residential units. Pictured on March 11, in the Hill District. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)</figcaption></figure> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-nearly-1-million-going-to-4-hill-developments"><strong>Nearly $1 million going to 4 Hill developments</strong></h2> <p>The Lower Hill LERTA ensures that half of all tax revenue generated on the site gets redirected to the Greater Hill District Neighborhood Reinvestment Fund, which funds redevelopment projects in Terrace Village, Middle Hill, Upper Hill, Bedford Dwellings, Crawford-Roberts and the Bluff.&nbsp;</p> <p>The URA Board approved reinvestment funds for the following redevelopment projects:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>$250,000 to the construction of African Queens Apartments, a 12-unit affordable housing building with ground-level retail spaces located on Centre. The project costs $8.6 million in total.&nbsp;</li> <li>$240,000 toward the rehabilitation of 2178 Centre, a vacant three-story building on the same block as the forthcoming African Queens Apartments. The first floor will house Big Tom’s Barbershop, which is <a href="https://www.bigtomsshop.com/">currently located</a> at 2042 Centre.</li> <li>$250,000 toward the transformation of the former Centre Lumber and Building Supply warehouse at 2239 Centre into a mixed-use building with retail spaces and 12 subsidized artist studios.&nbsp; The project, led by Studio Volcy, LLC, is anticipated to cost $3.6 million.&nbsp;</li> <li>$190,000 to Communion, LLC, to rehabilitate 2932 Wylie Ave. into a mixed-use building with commercial office space and six affordable residential units.&nbsp;</li> </ul> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/20260311-URA-DEVELOPMENT-HILL-DISTRICT-PITTSBURGH-04-1.jpg" alt="A damaged, abandoned two-story building with boarded windows and faded signage reading &quot;CENTER BUILDERS SUPP LL.&quot; A purple car is parked in front on a wet street." class="wp-image-1330661" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Rhythm Square project will rehabilitate the former Centre Lumber and Building Supply warehouse located at 2239 Centre Ave. into a mixed-use building with first-floor commercial retail spaces and second floor subsidized artist studios. Pictured on March 11, in the Hill District. (Photo by Stephanie Strasburg/Pittsburgh’s Public Source)</figcaption></figure> <p>The funding serves to either completely fill or come close to filling the financing gap for each project, according to Kirk Holbrook, the project manager for the reinvestment fund.&nbsp;</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-homes-planned-in-hazelwood"><strong>Homes planned in Hazelwood</strong></h2> <p>The board also approved the sale of several parcels of land in the Hazelwood neighborhood to Oak Moss Consulting, LLC, for a dollar. The <a href="http://www.publicsource.org/hazelwood-pittsburgh-neighborhood-future-development-housing-grocery-parking/">firm plans to build</a> 23 townhouses of two or three bedrooms.&nbsp;</p> <p><em>Mia Hollie is the economic development and housing reporter for Pittsburgh’s Public Source. She can be reached at <a href="mailto:mia@publicsource.org">mia@publicsource.org</a>.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/lower-hill-district-redevelopment-without-penguins/&quot;&gt;article&lt;/a&gt; first appeared on &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org&quot;&gt;Pittsburgh&#039;s Public Source&lt;/a&gt; and is republished here under a &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/&quot;&gt;Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;img src=&quot;https://i0.wp.com/www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/cropped-ps_circle_favicon_blue.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;amp;ssl=1&quot; style=&quot;width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;&quot;&gt;</p> &lt;img id=&quot;republication-tracker-tool-source&quot; src=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/?republication-pixel=true&amp;post=1330651&amp;amp;ga4=G-CCLXQK5C14&quot; style=&quot;width:1px;height:1px;&quot;&gt;&lt;script&gt; PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: &quot;https://www.publicsource.org/lower-hill-district-redevelopment-without-penguins/&quot;, urlref: window.location.href }); } } &lt;/script&gt; &lt;script id=&quot;parsely-cfg&quot; src=&quot;//cdn.parsely.com/keys/publicsource.org/p.js&quot;&gt;&lt;/script&gt;

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