Penguins' redevelopment plans fall short, Hill District residents say

Date Published: 
Monday, October 6, 2014
Philip G. Pavely | Trib Total Media

Hill District resident Bomani M. Howze questions Penguins officials about minority ownership opportunities for mixed-use development on Monday, Oct. 6, 2014, in the Kaufmann Center in the Hill District.

Dozens of Hill District residents voiced wide-ranging concerns Monday about the Pittsburgh Penguins' preliminary plan to redevelop the former Civic Arena site, with affordable housing remaining chief among them.

"First, (the city) tore down houses to put up the Civic Arena, and now the Penguins tore that down to build housing that people like me can't afford," said Arthur Helms, 59, a fast-food worker and lifelong Hill resident.

"It just doesn't calculate," Helms said.

The first of five public meetings scheduled regarding the Penguins' plan for more than $500 million in development on the 28-acre site drew more than 100 people to the Kaufmann Center on Centre Avenue. Several, including Helms, carried signs questioning the plans or the team.

Aside from housing, residents raised concerns about building heights, parking, traffic congestion, the naming of streets, recognition of local history and incorporation of public art in the development.

Preliminary plans call for development of 1,185 housing units, along with 200,100 square feet of commercial development, 632,000 square feet of office space, a 150-room hotel and 4.3 acres of open space, including a park over Interstate 579.

Penguins Chief Operating Officer Travis Williams said affordable housing would make up 20 percent of the development, with the least-expensive units costing about $600 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. Residents called for at least 30 percent of the housing to be affordable, with a portion geared toward people earning as low as 30 percent of the area's median income. The most affordable units in the team's plan would be for people earning 60 percent.

Williams said providing more affordable housing at lower rates would require too much public funding.

Williams called the team's proposal "monumental ... not only for the Penguins, but also for the Hill District and for the region."

Among other things, Williams said business participation by minority- and female-owned companies would be 30 percent and 15 percent, respectively, the highest level in city history; and at least 250 of the housing units would be developed by minority-owned companies.

Carl Redwood of the Hill District Consensus Group said none of those details are written into the plans submitted last month to the city.

"All we have right now are promises," Redwood said, adding that several aspects fall short of demands by community leaders.

Tom Fontaine is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7847 or tfontaine [at] tribweb.com.