Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority moved Thursday to dedicate another $10 million to a massive Downtown revitalization project announced in October.

The project, unveiled by city leaders and Gov. Josh Shapiro Oct. 25, is focused on converting Downtown office towers into residential units. Demand for office space decreased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a significant decline in real estate tax revenue generated by Downtown highrises. Local leaders have said office-to-residential conversions are a key to restabilizing Downtown’s economy.

The new $10.3 million in funding, which the URA board approved unanimously, is divided among four buildings: Smithfield Lofts, City Club Apartments, 933 Penn Ave. and 601 Grant St. The additional sum will bring the URA’s total investment in the project to $23 million.

The full plan is expected to cost more than half a billion dollars and includes more than $60 million in state funding. Shapiro said the investments from local and state government, as well as an array of local corporations and foundations, is expected to unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in investment from development companies.

“This is everything that we talked about we were going to do, we’re doing,” Mayor Ed Gainey said during the URA board’s meeting Thursday. “People didn’t believe the private and public sector could come together, they didn’t believe we could bring this money back home, but at the end of the day we did what we said we were going to do.”

Kyle Chintalapalli, the URA board chair and top economic development advisor to Gainey, said he expects construction on the plan’s 1,000 housing units to begin wit hin the next 18 months. A third of the units are expected to be affordable to households of modest incomes.

Questions surround federal funding

The board voted unanimously to begin the process of applying for federal funds through the Department of Transportation — a funding stream that could be called into question amid the transition underway in Washington, D.C., with President Joe Biden giving the reins to former and returning President Donald Trump.

After board member Sam Williamson asked if the process would be complete before Jan. 20, when Trump will take over, a URA official said the agency will submit its request this year, and is assuming that all political parties are interested in a strong economy.

Tax diversion for Manchester-Chateau advances

The board voted unanimously to advance a tax diversion district that officials said will simultaneously unlock infrastructure and housing upgrades for two North Side neighborhoods and enable the $740 million Esplanade development to move forward.

The board approved a Transit Revitalization Investment District [TRID] for the neighborhoods, which stipulates that a certain percentage of new real estate tax revenue will be reinvested into the community. Under the plan approved Thursday, 75% of new tax revenue would be reinvested in the site and neighborhoods and the other 25% would go to the taxing bodies. This arrangement would last 40 years.

The Esplanade project, which received a key approval from the City Planning Commission on Tuesday, is expected to boost the real estate tax revenue for the area from just $83,000 to about $8 million, according to Tom Link, the URA’s chief development officer.

The TRID plan calls for the money to be used for, among other things:

• $8 million for site preparation and infrastructure, including work needed for the Esplanade development
• $10 million for multimodal transit infrastructure and parking structures
• $1 million for riverbank restoration
• $21 million for affordable housing.

The three taxing bodies (the city, Allegheny County and Pittsburgh Public Schools district) will have to undertake their own legislative and public engagement processes before the TRID is fully enacted.

Manchester Citizens’ Corp. director LaShawn Burton-Faulk spoke at the URA meeting in support of the TRID. 

“It’s important because it helps to connect divided communities,“ Burton-Faulk said, referring to challenges associated with the neighborhood being bifurcated by Route 65. “We have an opportunity here to create some equity and access.”

Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.

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$10 million more for Downtown conversions, tax diversion for Esplanade approved by URA board

by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source
November 14, 2024

<h1>$10 million more for Downtown conversions, tax diversion for Esplanade approved by URA board</h1> <p class="byline">by Charlie Wolfson, Pittsburgh's Public Source <br />November 14, 2024</p> <p>Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority moved Thursday to dedicate another $10 million to a massive Downtown revitalization project announced in October.</p> <p>The project, unveiled <a href="https://www.wesa.fm/development-transportation/2024-10-25/shapiro-to-announce-a-10-year-600-million-makeover-for-downtown-pittsburgh">by city leaders and Gov. Josh Shapiro Oct. 25</a>, is focused on converting Downtown office towers into residential units. Demand for office space decreased amid the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to a significant decline in real estate tax revenue generated by Downtown highrises. Local leaders have said office-to-residential conversions are a key to restabilizing Downtown’s economy.</p> <p>The new $10.3 million in funding, which the URA board approved unanimously, is divided among four buildings: Smithfield Lofts, City Club Apartments, 933 Penn Ave. and 601 Grant St. The additional sum will bring the URA’s total investment in the project to $23 million.</p> <p><a href="https://www.pa.gov/en/governor/newsroom/2024-press-releases/governor-shapiro-announces-historic-plan-to-revitalize-downtown-.html">The full plan</a> is expected to cost more than half a billion dollars and includes more than $60 million in state funding. Shapiro said the investments from local and state government, as well as an array of local corporations and foundations, is expected to unlock hundreds of millions of dollars in investment from development companies.</p> <p>“This is everything that we talked about we were going to do, we’re doing,” Mayor Ed Gainey said during the URA board’s meeting Thursday. “People didn’t believe the private and public sector could come together, they didn’t believe we could bring this money back home, but at the end of the day we did what we said we were going to do.”</p> <p>Kyle Chintalapalli, the URA board chair and top economic development advisor to Gainey, said he expects construction on the plan’s 1,000 housing units to begin wit hin the next 18 months. A third of the units are expected to be affordable to households of modest incomes.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Questions surround federal funding</h2> <p>The board voted unanimously to begin the process of applying for federal funds through the Department of Transportation — a funding stream that could be called into question amid the transition underway in Washington, D.C., with President Joe Biden giving the reins to former and returning President Donald Trump.</p> <p>After board member Sam Williamson asked if the process would be complete before Jan. 20, when Trump will take over, a URA official said the agency will submit its request this year, and is assuming that all political parties are interested in a strong economy.</p> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">Tax diversion for Manchester-Chateau advances</h2> <p>The board voted unanimously to advance a tax diversion district that officials said will simultaneously unlock infrastructure and housing upgrades for two North Side neighborhoods and enable the $740 million <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-manchester-esplanade-development-community-organization-city-planning/">Esplanade development</a> to move forward.</p> <figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img src="https://www.publicsource.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/Screen-Shot-2024-11-12-at-10.49.57-AM.png" alt="Aerial view of a waterfront development plan featuring buildings, green spaces, a ferris wheel, and marina with docks." class="wp-image-1312807" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An artist's conception of the proposed Esplanade development, submitted by Piatt Companies and consultants to the City Planning Commission ahead of a Nov. 12 hearing on the plan for a site along the Ohio River in Pittsburgh's Chateau neighborhood.</figcaption></figure> <p>The board approved a Transit Revitalization Investment District [TRID] for the neighborhoods, which stipulates that a certain percentage of new real estate tax revenue will be reinvested into the community. Under the plan approved Thursday, 75% of new tax revenue would be reinvested in the site and neighborhoods and the other 25% would go to the taxing bodies. This arrangement would last 40 years.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-manchester-esplanade-development-community-organization-city-planning/">Esplanade project</a>, which received a key approval from the City Planning Commission on Tuesday, is expected to boost the real estate tax revenue for the area from just $83,000 to about $8 million, according to Tom Link, the URA’s chief development officer.</p> <p>The TRID plan calls for the money to be used for, among other things:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>$8 million for site preparation and infrastructure, including work needed for the Esplanade development</li> <li>$10 million for multimodal transit infrastructure and parking structures</li> <li>$1 million for riverbank restoration</li> <li>$21 million for affordable housing.</li> </ul> <p>The three taxing bodies (the city, Allegheny County and Pittsburgh Public Schools district) will have to undertake their own legislative and public engagement processes before the TRID is fully enacted.</p> <p>Manchester Citizens’ Corp. director LaShawn Burton-Faulk spoke at the URA meeting in support of the TRID.&nbsp;</p> <p>“It’s important because it helps to connect divided communities,“ Burton-Faulk said, referring to challenges associated with the neighborhood being bifurcated by Route 65. “We have an opportunity here to create some equity and access.”</p> <p><em>Charlie Wolfson is PublicSource’s local government reporter. He can be reached at charlie@publicsource.org.</em></p> <p>This &lt;a target=&quot;_blank&quot; href=&quot;https://www.publicsource.org/pittsburgh-downtown-residential-affordable-housing-office-conversions-ura/&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=1312965&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/pittsburgh-downtown-residential-affordable-housing-office-conversions-ura/&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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