Aerial rendering of 28-acre former Civic Arena site. Gensler
by Christian Morrow, Courier Staff Writer
On May 14, the Pittsburgh Penguins and their developers held a meeting for Hill District residents to let them know what to expect when construction soon begins on the 28-acre former Civic Arena site.
But before the Intergen development team of Keith Key, Bomani Howze and Robert Agbede start work erecting 288 housing units, and before Buccini/Pollin begins construction on the office/retail and entertainment space, PennDOT will be building a $32 million “cap” across I-579 that will reconnect the city to the Hill with a 2.6-acre park.
The entire redevelopment area is now being called Centre District. Penguins General Counsel Kevin Acklin said the name is not an attempt to erase the Lower Hill—much of which was erased when demolition for the arena displaced more than 8,000 residents and 413 businesses 60 years ago. He said, because the project is reconnecting the Hill to Downtown, they chose a name that reflects that; Centre Avenue-Hill District.
Because the Penguins hold the options to develop the former arena site, the housing and business projects, and future hotel and concert venue projects—and their level of Black contracting and hiring compliance—will be overseen by Acklin and Deputy Counsel Tracey McCants Lewis.
The cap, however, is the responsibility of the Sports and Exhibition Authority because it owns the land. Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-June and run through November 2021. Because the cap is essentially a bridge across an interstate highway, it is a PennDOT job. However, as SEA Executive Director Mary Conturo told the Courier, May 21, it’s even more complicated.
“So PennDOT is the construction manager, but because a 3.2-acre green space will cover the cap, it’s a city park,” she said. “So, the construction contractor is being chosen by the city,” she said. “And that’s under the city’s Office of Mobility and Infrastructure. But the contract hasn’t been signed yet, so I can’t tell you who it is.”
Though the project is budgeted at $32 million, $19 million of that comes from a U.S. Department of Transportation TIGER grant. As such, there are federal requirements for contracting with MWDBEs (Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises). The U.S. DOT requires only 10 percent of its funded projects be “expended with small, disadvantaged business enterprises.”
The city’s goals for MWDBE participation are higher; 18 percent for minority-owned firms and 7 percent for women-owned firms. Additionally, last May, Mayor Bill Peduto issued an executive order putting in place a single Project Labor Agreement for all city construction projects that would require another 12 percent minority participation on the actual job site.
Once the contract is signed, the contractor must submit an MWDBE plan to the Equal Opportunity Review Commission for approval. McCants Lewis is also one of the commissioners.
Conturo said the entire process has been complicated, which is why it’s taken two years from the time the grant was awarded to actually get started.
“The project has been under development for a long time,” she said. “We are very excited to have construction begin.”
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