The developer looking to build a Ferris wheel, housing, entertainment space and other amenities to a sprawling riverside property in Pittsburgh’s Chateau neighborhood cleared a major hurdle Tuesday as Allegheny County Council provided the last needed approval for a critical tax diversion.
Cecil-based Piatt Companies has now earned approval from the city, county and school district for a tax deal that was essential to the $740 million development’s success.
The Transit Revitalization Investment District will help fund public infrastructure and affordable housing for the Esplanade site and the surrounding community.
County Councilwoman Bethany Hallam, whose family has deep ties to the North Side, acknowledged a group from the neighboring Manchester community was wary of the proposal. She offered to help them organize additional public meetings to further discuss the project.
Though Hallam said she’s often skeptical of tax deals, she supported this one because it benefits not just the development site, but also the broader community. She called the proposal a “win-win” that would bring much-needed housing.
“Without the TRID, there is no money for the infrastructure we need,” she said. “Without the infrastructure, there’s no development. Without the development, there’s no increase in tax revenue that we all know we need to fund our schools, which are falling apart, our bridges which are in disrepair, our roads, our community in general.”
But the tax district that all three taxing bodies have now approved will take a significant chunk of that increased tax value and plow it back into the development and nearby projects, rather than going directly to the city, county and school district.
It will allow 75% of the taxes generated by the property’s added value after development to fund public infrastructure, riverbank restoration and new affordable housing within the development and in nearby Manchester.
The tax district will last for 40 years, but individual properties will be eligible for only a 20-year tax diversion.
The properties set to be developed now generate about $84,000 in property taxes each year. A portion owned by the Urban Redevelopment Authority has been off the tax rolls since 2003.
Officials estimate the completed project will produce about $8 million in tax revenue each year once complete.
The Esplanade project aims to transform a 15-acre brownfield along the Ohio River into a first-day attraction for the region. It’s set to include restaurants, retailers, green space, a marina, an incubator for local entrepreneurs, entertainment areas, a grocery store, a hotel, condos, a mixed-income apartment tower and a nearly 200-foot Ferris wheel with views of the river and city.
Pittsburgh City Council and the Pittsburgh Public Schools board already approved the tax deal.