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Resolution authorizing the Mayor and the Director of the Department of Finance to execute a quit claim deed or deeds, and any other necessary or appropriate documents, agreements, and instruments conveying AS IS all of the City’s right, title and interest, if any, in Block 2-J, Lot 164-0-2, in the 1st Ward of the City of Pittsburgh, with an address of 200 Ross Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219, to the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (“URA”) for consideration of One Dollar and 00/100 ($1.00), contingent upon the Mayor and Director of the Department of Finance first entering into a Cooperation Agreement or Agreements with the URA setting forth the rights and obligations of the City and the URA relating to these initial conveyances and further setting forth the rights and obligations of the City and the URA relating to the subsequent disposition of these Property to third parties (Council District No. 6).
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Whereas, the City, the URA, and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh share joint ownership of property designated as Block 2-J, Lot 164-0-2, in the 1st Ward of the City of Pittsburgh, located at 200 Ross Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219 and commonly known as the John P. Robin Civic Building (the “Property”); and
Whereas, pursuant to the Urban Redevelopment Law, 35 P.S. §§ 1701 et seq., the URA is authorized to steward the development process, evaluate proposals, and ultimately sell City-owned property to promote the City’s economic development; and
Whereas, a May 2016 report by the City’s Affordable Housing Task Force, identified the substantial need for affordable housing in the City of Pittsburgh, and found an affordability gap of 17,241 units for households earning up to 50% of the city’s median household income and that, for every 100 households earning less than 30% Area Median Income, only 34 affordable housing units were available; and
Whereas, the COVID-19 pandemic has left much of the office space in the City’s Central Business District unused as much of the region’s workforce continues to work from home or maintain hybrid work schedules; and
Whereas, the URA administers the Pittsburgh Downtown Conversion Program (“PDCP”) to assist developers in converting unused office space into units of housing; and
Whereas, the Property contains substantial amounts of unusable office space and the URA plans to release a Request for Proposals for the redevelopment of the Property, with a preference for proposals that include conversion of the Property into affordable housing; and
Whereas, pursuant to this authority and subject to the approval of its Board of Directors, the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh (“URA”) desires to acquire all of the City’s right, title and interest, if any, the Property for consideration of One Dollar and 00/100 ($1.00), contingent upon the Mayor and Director of the Department of Finance first entering into a Cooperation Agreement or Agreements between the City and the URA setting forth the rights and obligations of the City and the URA relating to the conveyances, including the URA’s obligations to market the Property, the URA’s right to set the purchase price for each Property, the URA’s obligation to hold and sell the Property to a third party after conveyance to the URA, the URA’s obligation to remit proceeds minus agreed-upon costs and expenses to the City from the conveyance of a Property to a third-party, and an acknowledgement that the Property may be conveyed to the URA separately over a period of time while the City occupies said property; and
Whereas, the Council of the City of Pittsburgh now desires to approve the conveyance to the URA, subject to the conditions set forth below.
Be it resolved by the Council of the City of Pittsburgh as follows:
Section 1. The Mayor and the Director of the Department of Finance of the City of Pittsburgh are authorized to execute a quit claim deed or deeds, and any other necessary or appropriate documents, agreements, and instruments conveying AS IS all of the City’s right, title and interest, if any, in Block 2-J, Lot 164-0-2, in the Property to the URA for consideration of One Dollar and 00/100 ($1.00). Costs of closing of the Property for its transfer from the City to the URA, including recording fees, and transfer taxes, will be split equally by the parties as further set forth in the Cooperation Agreement authorized in Section 2 herein.
Section 2. The aforementioned conveyance of the Property to the URA is contingent upon the prior execution by the Mayor and the Director of the Department of Finance (on behalf of the City of Pittsburgh) a Cooperation Agreement or Agreements with the URA (which Cooperation Agreement(s) are authorized hereunder) setting forth the rights and obligations of the City and the URA, relating to the conveyance, including: 1) the URA’s obligations to market the Property, 2) the URA’s right to set the purchase price for the Property, 3) the URA’s obligation to hold and sell the Property to third parties, 4) the URA’s obligation to remit proceeds minus agreed-upon costs and expenses to the City from the conveyance of the Property within sixty (60) days of the sale of such Property to a third party as further set forth Section 3 herein, and 5) an acknowledgement that the Property may be conveyed to the URA separately over a period of time while the City occupies said Property for a term of up to five (5) years, such period commencing after execution of the initial Cooperation Agreement. The Cooperation Agreement(s) must be approved by the City Solicitor as to form and substance.
Section 3. Within sixty (60) days of the sale of the Property by the URA to a third party, the URA will subtract actual, reasonable expenses incurred by the URA in the acquisition, marketing, holding, and sale of the Property, including costs incurred to clear title of the Property. Thereafter, the URA shall remit to the City a pro rata share of the proceeds from the sale of the Property to a third party, equivalent to the City’s ownership interest (37.5%) conveyed to the URA pursuant to Section 1 herein.