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WHEREAS, like many great American Cities, the City of Pittsburgh's commercial office market is experiencing great uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 Global Pandemic and massive economic changes in office needs and work habits; and,
WHEREAS, due to these unprecedented changes, the City of Pittsburgh's Downtown Office market has seen significantly higher vacancy rates, large amounts of office spaces available for sub-lease, and an overall decline in utilization; and,
WHEREAS, the impacts of these trends have led to many Downtown Office buildings facing the prospects of foreclosure, significant potential declines in property tax revenue, and an overall lack of market vitality; and,
WHEREAS, the City of Pittsburgh has taken a number of steps to study the problem, and has been collaboratively working with various downtown stakeholders including civic groups, employers, employees, labor and trades, and the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (collectively the "Stakeholders") to develop solutions to immediately address the City of Pittsburgh's looming office market crisis; and,
WHEREAS, one of the strategies identified by the City of Pittsburgh and the Stakeholders is encouraging the conversion of existing office buildings into mixed use residential structures; and,
WHEREAS, the conversion of existing office buildings into residential structures is very difficult in an economic climate characterized by high construction costs and high interest rates; and,
WHEREAS, there are currently more than $300 million worth of conversion projects that are shovel-ready in Downtown Pittsburgh and potentially more than a $1 billion in conversion projects that could occur if there were appropriate economic structures in place to facilitate the same; and,
WHEREAS, the Stakeholders have identified a significant potential source of funding for these office conversion projects as announced by the White House on October 27, 2023 in its Fact Sheet: "Biden-Harris Administration T...
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