A Pittsburgh councilman is hoping a tax break could spark conversion of empty offices into affordable housing in part of his North Side district.
Councilman Bobby Wilson on Tuesday introduced legislation that would offer a sliding scale of tax breaks, depending on how much affordable housing or how many full-time jobs are created through a redevelopment project, for six to 20 years.
The tax break would apply only to new value added by redevelopment, not the existing tax bill. It applies only to the city property tax.
The city implemented a similar program to spur redevelopment Downtown, where demand for office space dwindled after the covid-19 pandemic popularized remote work.
“There’s really no difference that I’ve found between old office buildings in the North Side and Downtown,” Wilson told TribLive Tuesday.
He hopes the tax break tactic will encourage more developers to convert unused office space in the Allegheny Center neighborhood to workforce housing.
“Given the challenges of increased costs and really the difficulty of converting office to residential, we want to make sure that happens and we continue to bring more people into the city to live and work,” Wilson said.
Though much attention has been directed to finding new purposes for unused office spaces Downtown, Wilson said the problem spans various city neighborhoods.
Vacancies can suppress property values and weaken commercial corridors, he wrote in the bill.
Wilson’s legislation would offer the tax break for an area roughly bounded by Arch Street, North Commons and West Montgomery Avenue to the north, Union Place and Anderson Street on the east, railroad lines to the south, and Arch and Merchant Streets to the west.
The measure will come before council for discussion next week.