A housing development could soon begin taking shape on the former Civic Arena site, as the Pittsburgh Penguins are releasing more information on the concept.
The Penguins, along with primary housing developer McCormack Baron Salazar, are working on a plan that would bring housing units to the 28-acre site of the bygone arena. In all, the project calls for 935 housing units to be developed over multiple phases, the first of which is expected to break ground next November.
A total of 255 units are to be completed by November 2020, with the additional housing–including 250 units from Intergen Real Estate Group in the second phase–to be developed down the road. On Wednesday, the Penguins used the first of what is to be a series of scheduled public meetings to release information on the plan. More from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review:
“It’s incumbent on all of us, though, to deliver on that plan,” Penguins Chief Operating Officer Travis Williams told several dozen community members, trade workers and business owners Wednesday night. He spoke at a public meeting at the Jeron X. Grayson Center in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill District neighborhood.
The franchise has signed an option agreement pledging to comply with a final set of conditions requested by Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority last month, Williams said.
Wednesday marked the first in a series of public meetings to share more details about project designs, recruit locally based trade workers and collect community input during the last leg of planning.
As construction advances, “it’s important that the Penguins re-engage the community on the specifics of the plan,” said Marimba Milliones, president and CEO of the Hill District Community Development Corp.
The Penguins have been working for years to develop the area. As part of the 2007 agreement to build a new facility–now known as PPG Paints Arena–the Penguins were granted development rights and $15 million in credits to purchase land at the Civic Arena property. However, after various efforts stalled over the years, the Penguins recently came to terms on a new agreement that calls on the team to develop 10.75 acres by 2023 or risk losing up to 40% of parking revenues generated at the site.
Civic Arena hosted the club from 1967-2010, and was later demolished in 2012.
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