The Pittsburgh Penguins have seen their hockey season suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic. But despite the crisis, they are ready to advance the puck off the ice.
Team officials have filed notice with the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority that they are ready to move ahead with plans for a 24-story office tower at the former Civic Arena site that will be the headquarters of First National Bank.
Kevin Acklin, the Penguins senior vice president, said Tuesday the team still hopes to break ground on the $200 million project later this year after stay-at-home orders and other measures put in place to battle the coronavirus are lifted.
By filing the take down notice with the URA, the Penguins have signaled their intent to take control of the 1.34 acres of land needed for the project.
URA board members are scheduled to vote next month on whether to give preliminary approval for the conceptual development plan for the project. They also will vote on approving the Buccini/Pollin Group, hired by the Penguins to do the commercial parts of the overall development, as developer for the office tower.
The building is expected to include 382,000 square feet of office space, 35,000 square feet of retail and about 100 parking spaces to serve tenants and visitors. FNB will be the anchor.
It would be built at the lower end of the 28-acre lower Hill District site adjacent to Downtown and the new park being built over Interstate 579.
The project is one of three the Penguins are hoping to get started this year after years of delay.
It already has received preliminary approvals from the URA and the Sports & Exhibition Authority, the owners of the site, to build a 90,000-square-foot music venue to be operated by Live Nation and a 850-space parking garage on another part of the site. Combined, those two projects are expected to cost $123 million.
In addition, it has gotten a tentative go-ahead to start the first 288 units of housing, an $82.3 million endeavor, to be built by minority developer Intergen on the east end of the property near Crawford Square.
Of course, all of that is dependent at this point on the progress made in the fight against COVID-19.
“This development is all about rebuilding the lower Hill neighborhood, creating a new center of energy for the city and region and reconnecting to the Hill District, physically and economically,” Mr. Acklin said.
“The Penguins and our development partners BPG and Intergen are very excited to advance toward construction once we can safely proceed and the pandemic restrictions are eased.”
Before the pandemic hit, the team had hoped to complete the concert venue and housing in spring 2022, with the office building expected to open that summer.
Overall, the $1 billion redevelopment proposed for the site by the Penguins is to hold up to 1,420 units of housing, 810,000 square feet of office space, 190,000 square feet of retail, the music venue, a food hall and a hotel.
However, one casualty related to the pandemic could be Punch Bowl Social, which was expected to take 23,000 square feet of retail space at the former arena site.
The “eatertainment” attraction is facing possible foreclosure after Cracker Barrel pulled out its major stake in the chain.
“We haven’t heard anything more from PBS, and expect that they or a comparable concept will be a great fit for the development,” Mr. Acklin said.
Mark Belko: 412-263-1262 or mbelko@post-gazette.com.
First Published: April 15, 2020, 10:15 a.m.
