First National Bank is seeking $15 million in state aid to help with the construction of its new $200 million headquarters at the former Civic Arena site.
The bank’s appeal is the largest of $300.5 million in wish-list requests from developers, businesses and organizations in Allegheny County looking for grants under the Pennsylvania redevelopment assistance capital program.
Among them, the new owner of SouthSide Works is seeking $10.8 million to convert the venue’s movie theater into office space and to rehab the town square; St. Clair Hospital is asking for $10 million for a new outpatient center; and Chicago-based McCaffery Interests is applying for $8 million as part of the produce terminal and 1600 Smallman redevelopments in the Strip District.
In addition, the Sports & Exhibition Authority is requesting $7.4 million to COVID-19-proof Heinz Field, PNC Park, PPG Paints Arena and the David L. Lawrence Convention Center and another $5 million for roof repairs to the convention center.
The FNB application is part of $22 million in requests for aid related to the former arena site. The city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority also is asking for $3 million to help with construction of a live-music venue and an 850-space parking garage.
Another $4 million request is listed for the Penguins, who hold the development rights to the 28-acre lower Hill District site, to help with the garage and a proposed parking district. However, Kevin Acklin, the team’s senior vice president, said that money was actually awarded last year and the new application is to draw down those funds.
According to a summary included with the FNB request, the $15 million being requested from the state program would be used “to fund site preparation necessary to facilitate development of the FNB Financial Center.”
FNB would own about 50% of the 26-story mixed-use tower and occupy about 40% of the 471,980 square feet of office space, the summary stated. It also will have a bank branch on the first floor.
Overall, the project includes 20,000 square feet of retail and two floors of parking with 112 spaces. It would be built at the lower end of the former arena site closest to Downtown.
“This support is necessary to continue FNB’s investment in the project in a post-COVID economic environment. We believe this is a priority project for the city and region because it creates several thousand construction and permanent jobs, generates millions in tax revenue and helps restart our economy at a critical moment,” FNB spokeswoman Jennifer Reel said in a statement.
While Mr. Acklin deferred to the bank, he added, “We are aware that FNB is engaged in job growth discussions with the state, as they plan to expand in our city and region with jobs that otherwise are at risk of moving to the south.”
The $3 million request by the URA is for what is known as the arena site’s Block E development, which includes a 90,000-square-foot music venue that would be built on top of the 850-space garage.
State Rep. Jake Wheatley, D-Hill District, supports the applications for the FNB tower and the other projects at the old arena site, which has received tens of millions of dollars in public funding for infrastructure improvements, including construction of a park over Interstate 579.
He noted that overall arena redevelopment is expected to total $1 billion and that the $22 million in state grants, if awarded, could leverage four to five times that amount.
“I think it’s an important project for the region. We need all of these aspects to make the project really work,” he said.
But Marimba Milliones, president and CEO of the Hill Community Development Corp., said the requests come at a time when several minority-business enterprise-led and Black-led nonprofit projects in other parts of the Hill are seeking $11 million in funding from the same pot. One involves a $3 million request for the City’s Edge project in Uptown near the arena site that would include 508 spaces of parking, 110 mixed-income apartments and other amenities, she noted.
“Meanwhile, private non-MBE parties, together with the URA, are pursuing more tax money totaling $22 million to invest into a development that has zero community ownership, zero MBE ownership, failure to complete the community process and an unclear MBE participation strategy,” she stated.
“This approach demonstrates a true lack of empathy and concern when it comes to developing Black communities during a time when residents need to believe that people in government and corporate roles are thinking differently about race, place and power.”
Mr. Acklin countered that middle and upper Hill stand to benefit from more than $40 million in direct investment that will be generated by development on the arena site, with FNB advancing $11 million of that when it closes on the land needed for the office tower.
“Our development team has signed up for a 45% commitment to women and minority-owned businesses, the highest of any development in the history of the city, and we are ready to put thousands of people to work in construction and thousands more in permanent jobs to help recover from the COVID pandemic,” he said.
A limited pool of funds
The reality is that few — if any — of the arena projects or the others in Allegheny County requesting aid will get anywhere near the amount of funding they are seeking,
State Sen. Wayne Fontana, D-Brookline, said he expects only about $125.5 million in redevelopment-assistance aid to be available for distribution this year. The annual RACP grant program is administered by the state budget office and designed to help fund economic development, as well as cultural, recreational, civic and historical improvement projects across Pennsylvania.
Grants typically are awarded with input from local and state politicians.
A governor’s office spokeswoman could not confirm how much funding would be available this year.
The requests in Allegheny County alone are more than double the $125.5 million estimate. “There’s not enough money to go around,” Mr. Fontana said.
Among the other requests in Allegheny County:
— Chicago-based McCaffery Interests is seeking $4 million to help with the 1600 Smallman office and retail redevelopment in the Strip and $4 million for the produce terminal makeover across the street that is to include restaurants, offices and a market.
— $10.8 million to New York-based Somera Road to convert the SouthSide Works Cinema into the Box Office, a 77,000-square-foot innovative and creative office space. The developer also would use the money to rehab the town square, adding space for food and drink operators, fencing, a canopy, a “stage”-like platform for events, games and seating.
— $10 million to St. Clair Hospital for a six-story outpatient center that would include medical offices, surgical suites, medical imaging, laboratory and other diagnostic services, endoscopy, physical therapy and pharmacy.
— $7.5 million to the Presbyterian SeniorCare Network for the development of an 80-unit mixed-income, mixed-use LGBTQ senior housing community in the city.
— $5 million to the National Aviary for construction of a state-of-the-art veterinary hospital at 700 Arch St.
— $3.5 million to Astrobotic Technology for construction of a new headquarters in a former post office in Manchester on the North Side with an emphasis on space to support its lunar missions.
— $3 million to renovate and preserve the historic 132-year-old Braddock Carnegie Library.
— $6 million for the construction of two 40,000-square-foot tech flex buildings at the 168-acre Carrie Furnace site in the Mon Valley.
— $3.7 million for renovations to Heinz Hall, including new seating.
— $5 million toward construction of an 81,000-square-foot building in Uptown for Duquesne University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine.
— $6 million for redevelopment of a three-story industrial building at 51 Bridge St. in Etna.
No timetable has been set for the award of grants.
Mark Belko: 412-263-1262 or mbelko@post-gazette.com.
First Published: August 28, 2020, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: August 28, 2020, 10:51 a.m.
