Pittsburgh considers extending lease on police HQ for 6 years, with option to buy

A proposal before Pittsburgh City Council would extend the city’s lease on its North Side police headquarters for six years, after which it would have an option to buy the building.

The city has leased the building on Western Avenue for 20 years. The current lease is set to expire at the end of January, according to Jake Pawlak, director of the Office of Management and Budget.

Mayor Ed Gainey’s administration last year introduced a measure to extend the lease agreement, but council scrapped that legislation after discovering the city had another year remaining on the lease.

The city now pays about $1.5 million a year for the space. Under the proposed lease extension, the city would pay about $1.3 million a year for the next six years.

At the end of that time, Pawlak said, the city would have an opportunity to buy it.

The proposed contract does not include an estimate of what the cost would be to buy the building. Pawlak could not offer an estimate of the building’s value.

“This agreement has the potential to be an exit from the current leasing situation,” Pawlak said, acknowledging concerns several council members have raised about the amount the city spends on leasing facilities such as the police headquarters.

The proposal is “more financially advantageous to the city” than other options the administration has explored to rent or buy elsewhere, Pawlak said.

“To pursue another location would have a much greater cost,” he said. “I think the best, the ideal option for us for police headquarters would be to remain at the current facility, ideally under city ownership at the end of this lease.”

Councilwoman Deb Gross, D-Highland Park, voiced concerns about the amount of money that already has been spent on the lease and the amount that would be spent over the next six years — especially considering it’s still not guaranteed the city would buy the property after the lease ends.

“Not a single dollar of the previous $27 million, not a single dollar of the $8 million that’s proposed would go towards the actual purchase price,” she said. “It really does feel like we’re being held hostage to the building.”

Without knowing what price would be offered when the city considers buying it in six years, Gross said, “We have no idea if it’ll be offered at a price we’re willing to pay.”

Councilman Bruce Kraus, D-South Side, said it would be “irresponsible” to “put the bureau of police in such a disadvantaged position to have to dismantle and scramble to figure out where to go.”

Council members voted to hold the measure for a week and will further discuss it at their meeting Monday. It could be ready for a final vote as early as the following week.