Pittsburgh, Penguins announce tentative agreement on Lower Hill development

Hill District community groups have reached a tentative agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins that will kickstart a $500 million development of the former Civic Arena site, officials said on Tuesday.

City officials and the Penguins released details during a news conference in Mayor Bill Peduto's conference room.

This article was written by Bob Bauder, a staff writer for Channel 11's news exchange partners at TribLIVE.

"We have an agreement in principle subject to legal review," said Marimba Milliones, executive director of the Hill Community Development Group, which chaired a consortium of neighborhood organizations negotiating with the Penguins.

But not all residents are on board, according to Carl Redwood, who heads the Hill District Consensus Group. Redwood called the agreement a "backroom deal."

"The deal has not been shared with the community," he said.

Plans for offices, stores and homes on the 28-acre site can move forward after lawyers from all sides review the agreement, Milliones said.

Efforts by the Penguins to develop the site stalled in recent months over the neighborhood's demands for jobs, cut-rate housing and minority- and woman-owned business participation in all phases of the project.

Residents wanted the team to increase minority- and woman-owned business participation rates from 25 and 10 percent, respectively, to 35 and 15 percent. They want 30 percent of about 1,100 apartments proposed for the property to be affordable for people earning 30 to 80 percent of the area median income.

The Penguins proposed making 20 percent of the apartments affordable for people who earn 80 percent of the area median income.

Officials have said an agreement would put the city in better position to win an $18 million to $20 million federal grant for development of the property and permit the Penguins to begin the first phase this year.