A Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing is the latest in an ongoing series of legal wranglings, accusations and recriminations swirling around the operation of Wood Street Commons, the Downtown building that houses about 260 low-income people.

Tom Mistick, part owner of the property, said yesterday he had no option but to file for federal bankruptcy protection on Friday in order to stop PNC Bank's foreclosure proceedings in Allegheny County Common Pleas Court. PNC is seeking nearly $2.7 million it claims it is owed.

The bankruptcy filing wasn't necessary, countered Dennis Davin, director of the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development, saying a plan was already in place for Mr. Mistick to transfer the 17-story building to a new non-profit entity, thereby eliminating the foreclosure and assuring the continuation of low-income housing for the needy.

Mr. Mistick counter-punched that plan was nothing more than a "Band-Aid" for two years at best. Mr. Davin asserted that the plan was viable both in the short- and long-term.

But while the men dispute the best way to manage the building, they do find agreement on one key component -- the 260 residents who live in single-occupancy rooms at very low rates won't be put out on the street as the powers-that-be thrash out what's to be done as far as ownership of the former YMCA building.

"The ultimate goal is to make sure the residents stay where they are now with no disruption of services," Mr. Davin said, adding County Executive Dan Onorato had directed him to make that happen. "We'll take every step possible so there are no problems with them staying where they are. That's going to continue to happen."

Mr. Mistick said that is important because Wood Street Commons "is a very important institution in the community. These are people at risk, and this is an essential part of a community."

Mr. Mistick has been involved with the building at 304 Wood St. since 1986 when he and Allegheny County entered into an arrangement in which the county rented six floors of office space at $90,000 a month, helping subsidize the low rates charged residents who are marginally employed or who have health problems that prevent them from acquiring traditional housing.

But that all changed in September when the county moved its MH/MR offices from Wood Street Commons as part of a plan to consolidate human service offices in the One Smithfield Street building, which is owned by the county's Industrial Development Authority.

Mr. Mistick said the loss of income and the difficulty during the economic downturn to find commercial tenants to replace the county agency crippled his ability to make mortgage payments. He said the county's rent payments made up about 90 percent of the building's monthly interest and principal payments on the mortgage. And that brought him to the brink of a sheriff's sale that was stopped by the bankruptcy filing.

But Mr. Davin said a plan had been worked out to transfer the property to a new non-profit.

"The county, the city, the foundation community, Community Human Services, the state of Pennsylvania, PNC and even the [foreclosure] judge bought into this," Mr. Davin said. "Everybody's on the same page except him. No one knows why he's doing this.

"This puts us in a more difficult position. It delays transferring ownership of the building and we have to react to the bankruptcy. All this does is use more public and foundation money and other money to make this thing work and that's obviously not what we want."

That's all news to him, Mr. Mistick said.

"I don't know anything about what they're thinking because they haven't talked to me," he said. "If they actually picked up a phone and talked to me they might actually find out what's going on.

"What I have seen of their planning efforts for the past two years doesn't add up to a solution to the needs of the residents for the long term. They can explain their business plan to a bankruptcy judge," Mr. Mistick said.