The city's Urban Redevelopment Authority is buying another key property on Forbes Avenue, Downtown, one that will give a private developer more room for a proposed residential high-rise.

It will pay the Order of Italian Sons & Daughters of America $400,000 to buy a small building on the south side of Forbes that once housed a Foto Hut store. The agreement will go before the URA board tomorrow for approval.

Also at the meeting, the board is expected to entertain what is being described as a "development arrangement" with Millcraft Industries Inc. for two projects designed to enliven the Fifth and Forbes corridor, including the planned 150- to 200-unit high-rise dubbed Forbes Village.

The proposed deal would enable Millcraft and partner Ira Morgan to continue pre-construction work on 20 URA-owned buildings in the corridor, including the old G.C. Murphy's store, and establish development-related goals the team must hit in order to retain control over the properties.

The Order of the Italian Sons & Daughters owns both the Foto Hut building and the old McDonald's restaurant at the corner of Forbes and Wood Street, a property long coveted by the URA but one that will not be part of the sale.

URA Executive Director Jerome Dettore said the Italian Sons & Daughters is not interested in selling the corner building, which houses the organization's offices and a convenience store.

While the Foto Hut building next to it doesn't give the URA everything it wanted, it does free up a bit more room for the Forbes Village project, Mr. Dettore said.

"It's a very good addition. Every square foot of footprint gives you a much better opportunity to do a quality building. You get that much more retail. The larger the frontage along the street, the stronger the retail component," he said.

Mr. Dettore said he believes the $400,000 the URA will pay for the building is "one of the least expensive ones we've purchased" in the corridor. The property does not appear to be listed separately on Allegheny County's real estate Web site. The corner building has an assessed value of $1.5 million. The Foto Hut building may be part of that assessment.

The price Millcraft will pay for that property and about 19 others owned by the URA in the corridor will be determined by an appraiser. Under another agreement to be considered tomorrow, both the developer and the URA will spend up to $20,000 each to hire an appraiser to set prices.

Over the past seven years, the URA has spent $13.8 million to acquire the properties, but Mr. Dettore said the city could end up getting less than that in any deal with Millcraft.

He has said the city may have overpaid for some key parcels in order to assemble enough land in the corridor to interest a developer. The assessed value of the URA-owned properties is $9.5 million.

Also tomorrow, the URA board is expected to vote on an agreement with the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership to share the cost of hiring a consultant as part of an international design competition planned this fall to decide the future of Market Square.

Through public discussions, the consultant would help to decipher exactly what people want in Market Square in terms of design, amenities, landscaping and related issues. Once that has been determined, the competition will follow.

The URA board will be asked to authorize up to $30,000 for the agency's share of the consultant's cost.