Gov. Ed Rendell issued the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust a $12.3 million check yesterday in support of its half-billion dollar, arts-driven riverfront housing project, which is set to be the biggest in Downtown history.

The state funds will support public infrastructure in the $90 million first phase of the RiverParc project. Overall construction of some 700 housing units on the Allegheny River at Eighth Street, adjacent to the Cultural District, could take a decade.

The governor called the project "one of the linchpins to the revitalization of the city of Pittsburgh," joining with other projects to possibly bring thousands of new residents to Downtown and the North Shore.

"This will be as exciting and well thought out a Downtown residential and retail project as any American city has had in the last 10 years," he said.

The $460 million project will follow environmentally friendly "green" building practices, and combine housing with public amenities such as performance spaces, parks, retail establishments and a link to the river. The hope is to boost 24-hour residential and cultural life Downtown, adjacent to existing Cultural Trust facilities, such as the Benedum Center and the O'Reilly Theater.

Developers planned to break ground at the development site between Seventh and Ninth streets this summer, but that may be pushed back to early 2008, said Phoenix-based lead developer Susan Eastridge. Construction should take 14 months, meaning the homes could open in early 2009.

Realtor Hoddy Hanna said pre-sales of the roughly 250 housing units in the first phase will begin before construction starts, in the late summer or fall of this year. The company has a list of 200 people who are tentatively interested, he said.

Prices are not set, but the bulk should be two- and three-bedroom units costing $300,000 to $400,000, Eastridge said. Some will cost less (about $180,000) and some grander condominiums more. The initial phase will include a high-rise and a mid-rise apartment building, and town-homes along Eighth Street, all of them interspersed with public spaces and a 420-space underground garage.

The public areas and the green-building plans were the key to the state support, Rendell said at a Benedum Center news conference.

The $12.3 million in state funding includes: $7 million in state capital funds for the parking garage; $3 million in tax credits for the two mixed-use buildings, which will have both housing and retail; $2 million in "Growing Greener" funds for demolishing two buildings on the site and other needs; and $300,000 for park spaces.

Rendell's office estimated the first construction phase would create 1,000 construction jobs, 90 retail jobs and 20 management positions.

Cultural Trust CEO Kevin McMahon said public meetings on the plans will be held in coming months, before they are refined and taken to city planners for formal approvals.