URA votes to create special tax zone to spur $500 million development on former Civic Arena site

Date Published: 
Friday, September 12, 2014

File/Joe Wojcik
The site of the former Civic Arena in the lower Hill District of Pittsburgh

The board of the Urban Redevelopment Authority voted through six agenda items at its September board meeting that are expected to help launch $500 million in new development on the former Civic Arena site as well as seed the revitalization of seven neighborhoods within the Hill District neighborhood beyond it.

"This is a tremendous transformational opportunity for our city," said URA board chair Kevin Acklin, complementing Hill District councilman and URA board member Daniel Lavelle, the Pittsburgh Penguins and a variety of other parties engaged in bringing the large-scale plan to fruition.

In the wake of Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto and the Pittsburgh Penguins' announcement of a new agreement for the arena site on Tuesday, the URA board voted to extend the option agreement for the team's development rights on the property and to begin the process of establishing a tax increment financing district that would include the arena site as well as the entire Hill District territory.

A tax increment financing district is a public financial tool in which the future value of a real estate development is used to generate bond funding to help pay for infrastructure needs and other costs. A "Greater Hill District TIF" is expected to encompass 1,178 acres of land and would be the largest TIF district the city ever implemented.

The URA board also unanimously approved a variety of supplementary measures supporting infrastructure development on the site.

Marimba Milliones, the president and CEO of the Hill Community Development Corp., praised the collaboration that allowed the broad series of agreements to come together while acknowledging she expects continued challenges.

'I think we have a great framework to move from," she said. "I know we'll still have some hard days ahead of us."

Despite the city being turned down for a $21 million federal TIGER grant need to help build out the full infrastructure on the former arena site, the series of URA votes are expected to result in the Penguins pushing forward with major components of the development plans, including the construction of 600,000 square feet of office space, along with 250,000 square feet of complementary retail space and in the range of 1,100 apartments.

It was a URA meeting agenda that included the Hill District measures along with the Strip District produce terminal developer selection that led URA acting executive director Robert Rubinstein to say he couldn't remember a "meeting of this magnitude" in his career with the authority.

Tim Schooley covers retail, real estate, construction, hospitality, arts and entertainment, and government. Contact him at tschooley [at] bizjournals.com or 412-208-3826

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