All Neighborhoods
Allocated $10 million in city tax dollars to funding affordable rental and for-sale housing, helping homeowners make repairs, helping people stay in rental housing, and helping people make down payments.
Created program of small grants — no more than $100,000 — to assist nonprofit and community-based organizations with neighborhood-scale projects.
Service Workers Prevailing Wage Policy
Adopted policy under which building workers in structures backed by URA grants, specified loan products, bond financing, infrastructure improvements and below-market property sales or leases above certain thresholds get prevailing wages. Williamson spoke but abstained from the vote.
Central Business District
Authorized parking tax diversion to finance $4.2 million to aid in the development by Midpoint Group and the Hill Community Development Corp. of a 508-space parking garage, commercial and community space, and 110 apartments, of which 77 will be income-restricted. Total $61 million development.
Central North Side
Approved a development proposal by Trek Development and Q Development to build apartments in the former Garden Theater block.
Chateau
Entered into an option agreement to sell five lots for $1.5 million to a group led by Millcraft Investments as part of a proposed $528 million mixed-use complex.
Downtown
Approved a variety of contracts connected with the purchase, renovation and management of the former Art Institute of Pittsburgh building, now housing the URA and other city agencies.
Larimer
Granted $2.8 million — partly state funds — to the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh for the redevelopment of the former Larimer School. Stabilization and remediation costs estimated at $3.2 million.
Lower Hill District
Pittsburgh Arena Redevelopment
Authorized agreement with Pittsburgh Arena Redevelopment LP and the Sports & Exhibition Authority to clarify responsibilities of all parties regarding the development of 21.5 acres of the former Civic Arena site. Required affordable housing.
Middle Hill
Sold 12 parcels, 21,207 square feet, to the development team of CHN Housing Partners, the Hill Community Development Corp., for $125,000 for commercial and 40 affordable rental apartments. Total cost $14.5 million.
Shadyside
Bought Hunt Armory from the state Department of General Services for $1 million. The earlier agreement required the URA to convey the Hunt Armory to a third party for fair market value by Dec. 31, 2019, and the state gets 80%. URA had chosen Mosites, Light and Metz as redeveloper, but because the URA wasn’t going to get the deal done by that date, it renegotiated with the state and agreed to pay $1 million to buy the building outright.
Strip District
Authorized start of construction by McCaffery Interests and a $4 million tax-increment financing loan to cover Smallman Street improvements, plus the financing of as much as $1 million for the relocation of the Society for Arts in Crafts, also known as the Society for Contemporary Craft.
Source: URA board meeting minutes
This story was produced in partnership with Pittsburgh Magazine.
Rich Lord is PublicSource’s economic development reporter. He can be reached at rich@publicsource.org or on Twitter @richelord.
