Penguins, Live Nation team up on music venue
In 2010, James Taylor and Carole King reunited to close down the Civic Arena. But the site of that last concert soon could be rocking once again.
After months of negotiation, the Pittsburgh Penguins have reached an agreement with Live Nation Entertainment to operate a 90,000square-foot music venue at the former arena site. They are expected to formally announce the deal Thursday.
It marks the second big development commitment the team has landed in the past three months, following the announcement in December that First National Bank would anchor a 24-story
office tower to be built on the 28-acre publicly owned lower Hill District property.
The live music venue, capable of holding 6,600 people, will feature a “three-in-one” arrangement, with a stage, a fixed seating area for club and theater performances, and an outdoor lawn. It will be built on top of an 850space parking garage and surrounded by as much as 51,000 square feet of retail and commercial space.
“There will not be another venue like this in the region, and we expect it will become the entertainment anchor for the lower Hill, drive significant business to nearby restaurants and contribute to the rich fabric of live music in Pittsburgh,” Penguins CEO David Morehouse said in a statement.
The Penguins and their developer, The Buccini/ Pollin Group, envision a music spot that will complement and not compete with other Pittsburgh venues, including the adjacent PPG Paints Arena, where the Penguins play; Stage AE on the North Shore; and smaller clubs in the region.
Kevin Acklin, the team’s senior vice president, said the venue would be on par with the Anthem in Washington D.C., which has a capacity of about 6,000 people, and the Irving, Texas, Toyota Music Factory, which can hold 8,000 people.
The goal, he stressed, is to fill a “gap” in venues available in Pittsburgh for acts that are too small for PPG Paints but too big for some of the region’s smaller venues, including Stage AE, which can hold about 2,400 people indoors and 5,500 with its outdoor amphitheater.
“This is truly a unique asset for the city that would allow us to capture shows that otherwise wouldn’t be coming to Pittsburgh,” he said. “When you build these types of venues, there’s an overall increase [in concerts]. We’re not taking away from other music venues in the city. This is additive.”
Live Nation has been expanding its presence in Pittsburgh in recent years. In a statement, Tom Loudermilk, president of Live Nation Pittsburgh, said it has been focused on adding a music venue in the urban core.
“We believe this venue will complement the existing set of venues throughout the market to further enhance the live music experience for all fans,” he said.
Scott Stienecker, founder/ CEO of Columbus, Ohio-based PromoWest, which operates Stage AE, could not be reached for comment.
The lower Hill music venue and garage are expected to cost $123 million in all. In addition to the venue itself, the Penguins are hoping to develop “small intimate jazz and entertainment concepts” at the site, located at Wylie Avenue and Logan Street in the middle of the former arena site.
Mr. Acklin said the Penguins have been in touch with investors trying to resurrect the famous Crawford Grill in the Hill to discuss a possible partnership as well as with others interested in a jazz club. The team also is considering a jazz museum in the development.
In addition, it is looking into the possibility of hosting esports competitions at the concert venue.
As part of earlier agreements, the Penguins have committed to providing more than 1,200 square feet of free retail space on Wylie to the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority, one of the owners of the arena site, to lease to local and minority-owned businesses.
The team, which holds the development rights to the arena land, also has agreed to build a public safety facility for the city’s Rescue 2 and EMS 14 squads on the Bedford Avenue side of the parking garage at a cost of more than $1.2 million. It will replace the current location for Rescue 2 and EMS 14 on the Boulevard of the Allies in Downtown.
To help pay for the garage, a plan is in place to divert 75% of the parking tax revenue generated by the structure over 19 years, an estimated $24.3 million in all.
At the same time, the Penguins project that the music and garage components will produce $5.3 million in Local Economic Revitalization Tax Assistance program tax abatements that will be diverted to the middle and upper Hill for developments there. The Greater Hill Reinvestment Fund was set up as part of a community benefits agreement. The music venue also is expected to generate $400,000 a year in city amusement taxes.
The Penguins plan to break ground on the music venue and garage, the office tower and the first 288 units of housing at the arena site this summer. The concert venue and housing are targeted for completion in spring 2022, with the office building to open that summer.
After years of delay, “we have momentum, strong momentum on the lower Hill,” Mr. Acklin said.
FNB, now based on the North Shore, has signed a lease to occupy 160,000 square feet of space, or about 40% of the office tower, to be known as FNB Financial Center. There also will be 20,000 square feet of retail as well as a gym, a clubhouse, conference area and outdoor terraces.
Overall, the Penguins’ proposed $1 billion redevelopment is to hold up to 1,420 units of housing, 810,000 square feet of office space, 190,000 square feet of retail, the music venue, a food hall and the hotel.
The team already has landed Punch Bowl Social to take 23,000 square feet of retail space. It also is in talks with the Milk Shake Factory.