Mayor Peduto confirmed to the New Pittsburgh Courier that the city did try to purchase the property from LG Realty, but “they’re not interested, they want to develop that site,” he said.
A few years ago, the developers gave the over 300 residents in the two buildings 90 days to vacate the property. But city and community leaders stepped in and strong-armed the developers into facilitating a more reasonable time frame for residents to find other housing.
The final residents of Penn Plaza moved out on March 31.
“You’re about bringing it different people, different cultures and different organizations to displace the people that already live there,” Jennings said.
“We built East Liberty from nothing, there were vendors on the street, there were different Black-owned businesses and we built it to what it is now. So now that you see that East Liberty is thriving, you want to come in and displace the people that have been living there,” she said.
“For them to just be willing and able to make a buck when you’re already making bucks, it just doesn’t make sense.”
Jennings’ father, John, was one of the residents who had to move. “Panic and anger” is what her father felt when he first received the notice, Jennings said. She also mentioned her father became ill in February. She believes part of the reason for his illness was due to the stress he endured pertaining to moving.
Jennings called the entire ordeal “definitely real personal for me.”
This summer, work was to begin on the construction of an enlarged Whole Foods store on the Penn Plaza property, with luxury apartments above it. But days before the final residents vacated the premises, Whole Foods announced they were pulling out of the deal for now.
That announcement, along with other factors, has caused LG Realty to sue the city of Pittsburgh, Mayor Peduto said.
If Whole Foods cancels the deal in its entirety, LG Realty would want the city to pay them $10 million in potential lost revenue, Mayor Peduto said.
With the lawsuit in plain sight, Mayor Peduto said the word “negotiate” is still in play. “Between East Liberty Development, Bloomfield-Garfield Corporation, Friendship Preservation Group, and Friends of Enright Park, those four groups have put together what they want to see within their own neighborhood and are willing to work with the developer in order to be able to do it,” he said. “And that offer is still on the table and we’re still willing to negotiate with them (LG Realty) in order to get it done.”
Who knows, quite possibly one day Oharold and Karen Hootf can move back to East Liberty. They were longtime residents of Penn Plaza who now live in Oakland because of the situation.
“Sadness” is how they described their first reaction when told they would have to leave Penn Plaza. “Because we wanted to stay in that area and the building as long as we could, possibly the rest of our lives.”
“Have mercy on us,” Oharold Hootf said, directed at LG Realty. “Don’t forget that we were some of the people that built this city. Why are you going to turn your back on the needy and the people that need help the most?”
Three years and seemingly countless bouts in the ring. This fight may not be a pay-per-view special, or give both participants a multi-million dollar payday. But according to Oharold Hootf, it’s about principle.
“It’s not just about the amount that one makes who lives there, it’s about us as human beings being told to just get out,” he said. “We’re not going to remain silent. We’re going to continue to press until we get exactly what we want, and that is reinstatement into our communities.”
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