The Pittsburgh Penguins and their partners touted the construction of a 26-story office tower that will be the headquarters for First National Bank as a catalyst not only for the redevelopment of the former Civic Arena site but also for the Hill District as a whole.
But based on a nearly 2½-hour briefing before the city planning commission Tuesday, the team still may have some work to do to win approval for its proposal and meet a tight deadline to get work started this summer.
While commission members appeared to be generally supportive of the project, they raised questions about changes in the way Wylie Avenue would run through the site, design elements and the overall commitments to investment in the greater Hill.
Their comments came after the Penguins, developer Buccini/Pollin Group and others involved in the project cast it as a difference-maker for the 28-acre site in the lower Hill and the rest of the neighborhood.
“This is the beginning. It’s the foundation. It’s the catalyst for everything that’s going to come from here on,” said William Sittig, attorney for the group.
Chris Buccini, co-president of the Buccini/Pollin Group, said the project alone had the potential to pump $50 million in investment into the middle and upper Hill.
That includes $7.5 million that will be diverted to other parts of the neighborhood through tax revenue generated by the FNB project and $3 million in parking tax revenues produced through the construction of an 850-space parking garage, with it being used to create a housing fund for residents.
FNB, which will anchor the office tower, has pledged to advance the funding for both.
“For us to succeed as a project in the lower Hill, the middle and the upper Hill must succeed economically as well,” Mr. Buccini told the commission.
BPG, the Penguins, and minority-owned investment firm Clay Cove Capital also propose creating a $5 million Opportunity Zone fund designed to help real estate projects in the middle and upper Hill.
Commission chairwoman Christine Mondor said she was glad to see the proposed $3 million housing investment.
“I think the most endangered folks in rapid neighborhood change are folks who are in a home and not a business. As property levels rise, those are the folks that are most vulnerable to displacement,” she said.
Commission member LaShawn Burton-Faulk, however, questioned how generational wealth could be built throughout the Hill if the FNB project proves to be a “one and done” and no other development takes place on the site.
“It’s a shiny, pretty building but what about the footprints in the sand for folks of color or the socially-economically disadvantaged in the future?” she asked.
Clay Cove co-founder Amachie K. Ackah said his firm is looking for long-term involvement in the Hill.
“There are a number of projects that we’re doing to make sure, again, that we are in the position of building the Hill District’s ability to meet its untapped potential and bring economic activity that only helps everyone,” he said.
Penguins Chief Operating Officer Kevin Acklin stressed the team’s plan is not to stop after one project. He noted that the team, which holds the development rights to the publicly-owned site, is working on the 850-space garage and a music venue to be operated by Live Nation.
He also said the development team has “front loaded” a lot of the potential benefits to the Hill in the FNB project so money can go back to the community immediately.
One of the biggest challenges facing the team in getting timely commission approval may involve Wylie Avenue.
A new section of the historic Hill street was to run through the entire site in a preliminary land development plan approved by the commission in 2014.
Under the current plan, however, Wylie would stop at the FNB site instead of running to Washington Place, although pedestrians still would be able to use the right of way to walk by the office building and green space to get to a new park being built over Interstate 579 as well as into Downtown.
At the minimum, commission member Becky Mingo said, the change could require an amendment to the preliminary land development plan, adding she would be “uncomfortable” approving the FNB project without that.
Mr. Sittig said the Penguins and their team would be “happy to talk about that” but added that vacating streets can take time and be contentious. A request already has been made to that effect, he said.
He also argued the FNB project does not require the suggested amendment to be considered for approval and that trying to do so at this point could be a “misstep” given possible complications.
The Penguins and BPG are under pressure to get the FNB project started this summer and have it finished in 2024 because the bank has leases that can’t be extended. Otherwise, the development could be in jeopardy, Mr. Buccini said.
He pointed out Tuesday that the office tower is the first to be developed because FNB committed to it. BPG hopes to follow up this summer with the music venue, where it has a signed 20-year lease with Live Nation.
It also is “actively marketing” Block F, targeted for office space, across from the FNB Tower and part of the Wylie right of way.
“We do not have a tenant to go there. We will need to pre-lease it. But we have been in active discussions the last few years. Quite frankly, people need to see that something’s going to happen to this site,” he said.
BPG hopes to have a tenant for Block F within the next year.
Commission members took no public comment Tuesday but will do so in two weeks when the project comes up for a vote.
One of those critical of the efforts to advance the project has been the Hill Community Development Corp.
Its development review panel has given the proposals for community reinvestment “E” and “F” grades in terms of compliance with a neighborhood master plan and a benefits agreement known as the community collaboration and implementation plan.
Of 18 enhancements it had recommended in its most recent letter, only one has been met, while 13 were still “unmet and/or unaddressed.”
Ms. Mondor said those concerns likely will come up and be given “some more examination” by the commission in two weeks.
Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.
First Published: April 21, 2021, 9:58 a.m.
Updated: April 21, 2021, 10:12 a.m.
