Plan to convert unused Pittsburgh office spaces into housing gets $2.1M

Pittsburgh City Council on Tuesday approved a measure to allocate $2.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding to an initiative that will convert unused Downtown offices into residential space.

Officials said the project would provide much-needed housing and repurpose offices that have sat empty since much of the city’s workforce shifted to remote work during the covid-19 pandemic.

Pittsburgh is joining Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and state Sens. Jay Costa and Wayne Fontana in creating a $9 million pilot program to revitalize Downtown’s empty historic office buildings into residential units. The state has already committed $3 million to the initiative.

City Council unanimously approved the measure Tuesday. Councilman Ricky Burgess was not present for the vote.

Related:

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• Pittsburgh looks to convert unused office space into residential units

• Pittsburgh Council approves plan to spend $335M in federal covid relief money

Additional ARPA allocations approved Tuesday put $2 million towards the final purchase of Hays Woods and $8.9 million into housing preservation.

City officials also will put $2.5 million in ARPA funding into a trust fund supporting the Comprehensive Bridge Asset Management Program, an initiative meant to ensure the city’s bridges are safe and funded.

Pittsburgh had yet to allocate about $260 million in ARPA funding when City Controller Michael Lamb released his popular annual financial report last month.

The city received about $335 million in ARPA money in total. The cash must be used by the end of 2024.

The ARPA money going towards the project converting unused office spaces to residential units in Downtown was initially earmarked for a guaranteed basic income pilot program proposed by former Mayor Bill Peduto. His plan was to run the program — which would have offered $500 monthly payments to 200 low-income Pittsburgh residents and tracked how they used the money over two years — through OnePGH, a nonprofit created under the Peduto administration.

Mayor Ed Gainey in April announced that he was scrapping the guaranteed basic income pilot program, claiming it was not eligible for the ARPA funds. Other cities used ARPA money to fund similar programs.

Gainey last week announced his administration was also cutting ties with OnePGH.