Pittsburgh’s Urban Redevelopment Authority is seeking a new buyer to take over its former Downtown office building.
The URA moved out of 200 Ross St. about five years ago. The Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and several city departments who used the building have since left, too, all relocating a few blocks away to 412 Boulevard of the Allies.
Thomas Link, the URA’s chief development officer, said the 200 Ross St. building is now vacant and a liability.
The authority on Thursday announced Philadelphia-based developer PMC Property Group is completing due diligence to determine whether they could convert the building into housing. An agreement between the developer and the URA keeps the authority from selling the building while PMC analyzes the property.
Louise Giordano, senior vice president at PMC, said the company is proposing to redevelop the 13-story building into market-rate multifamily housing with amenities.
“Our interest in this building goes back well over 10 years,” she told the URA board Thursday. “To get the opportunity to do this, we’re pretty excited about it.”
PMC intends to preserve any historic elements of the structure, she said.
Built in 1908, the building once housed the headquarters of Jones & Laughlin Steel. It was known as the John P. Robin Civic Building when the city, URA and housing authority had their offices there.
A different developer — Pittsburgh-based nonprofit ACTION-Housing — had previously explored whether it could redevelop the property. ACTION-Housing had hoped to construct affordable housing there.
