Pittsburgh's Urban Redevelopment Authority could receive $1.2M in city funding

Pittsburgh City Council is poised to allocate $1.2 million to the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority to fund several programs.

“They’re investments back into neighborhoods, which we’d gotten away from for the last couple decades,” Councilwoman Deb Gross said.

The investment would include $150,000 for the Pittsburgh Task Force on Employee Ownership.

“The money will be used to provide broader technical assistance, marketing and outreach to provide direct support to individual businesses and employees who have this opportunity,” said Tom Link, chief strategy officer at the URA.

An additional $250,000 would support the URA’s Equitable Empowerment fund, which provides resources to small development teams — particularly women- or minority-owned businesses.

The URA’s Neighborhood Initiatives Fund would receive $500,000. The program offers grants for nonprofit and community-based organizations to complete projects in neighborhood commercial corridors that “improve quality of life and maintain the neighborhood as a desirable place to live.”

The funding also would provide $337,000 to a fund supporting property maintenance at URA-owned facilities and vacant properties. The organization’s Land Care Program maintains URA properties year-round, hiring small or medium-sized local businesses to perform the work, said Nathan Clark, chief legal officer for the URA.

City Council unanimously recommended the measure in a preliminary vote Wednesday. It could take a final vote next week.